by Donald Wood
Last updated: 4:40 PM ET, Fri July 19, 2019
As concerns about subsidies for airlines in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates continue to mount, United States President Donald Trump met with the chief executives from several top American carriers Thursday.
According to Reuters.com, President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence met with CEOs from American Airlines, JetBlue Airways, United Airlines, JetBlue Airways, FedEx Corp and Atlas Air about the Open Skies agreements.
In addition, Qatar Airways CEO Akbar al-Baker was also in attendance at the meeting.
"The president shares our concerns and instructed us to keep working with the U.S. Department of Transportation, which we plan to do," Partnership for Open & Fair Skies managing partner Scott Reed told Reuters.
The contention from the largest airlines in the U.S. is that Gulf carriers are being unfairly subsidized by their governments, which has distorted competition and resulted in American jobs being lost. The Gulf carriers have denied the claims since 2015.
American Airlines Chairman and CEO Doug Parker released the following statement after the meeting:
"Today, we met with President Trump to discuss Qatar's continued violation of its 2018 agreement with the United States. These violations represent a serious threat to the U.S. airline industry and the more than 1.2 million American jobs it supports. The American Airlines team appreciates the opportunity to meet with the President and look forward to working with his administration to hold Qatar accountable and protect U.S. jobs."
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