Skift Take
United Airlines supports a trade group that rails against almost everything Qatar Airways does. But this summer, United will put its customers on Qatar Airways jets to fly across the Atlantic. This is interesting, right?
Next month, Air Canada expects to pay Qatar Airways to operate two routes for it from Montreal, one to Paris and the other to Barcelona, both with Airbus A330s.
This is called a wet lease, and it's a normal arrangement. Air Canada is short on planes because regulators have grounded its 24 Boeing 737 Max aircraft, while Qatar has more aircraft than it needs. Air Canada's Max jets generally don't cross the Atlantic, but the airline shifted some bigger jets to North American routes, and it needs more capacity to Europe.
Air Canada will borrow planes and crews from other airlines, too. But none is as controversial in North America as the loaners from Qatar Airways. Here's why:
The three major U.S. carriers — United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and American Airlines — have been livid with Qatar Airways for several years, saying it competes unfairly by taking government subsidies that may allow it to absorb losses on competitive routes. Once, they were most angry about Qatar's growing slate of flights between
