Qatar Airways Group CEO Akbar Al Baker has told FlightGlobal that Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad International) might withdraw from Oneworld due to obstructionist tactics adopted by other alliance members, mainly American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth).

"The whole idea behind an alliance is to work together to support each other like a family. But I don’t think that is any more the spirit of the alliance, especially since American Airlines is continuously targeting Qatar Airways, slandering Qatar Airways, giving misinformation to the US government about Qatar Airways," Al Baker said.

American Airlines have long been critical of Qatar Airways and has accused the airline of receiving unfair subsidies and other assistance from the government, a claim that Qatar denies.

The bout subsided earlier this year after Qatar Airways agreed to publish its audited financial statements.

Al Baker further added that American Airlines "is targeting our investment in Air Italy (Milan Malpensa) at very high-level government interaction, claiming that we are cheating on the open-skies agreement that we signed with the US government." Qatar Airways holds a 49% stake in Air Italy, which offers own flights to the US, although these are not included in Air Italy-Qatar code-share agreement.

Al Baker also criticised another oneworld member, Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith), for blocking Qatar Airways' expansion into Australia. The Qatari carrier currently operates 42 weekly flights to Australia and serves Melbourne Tullamarine, Sydney Kingsford Smith, Canberra, Adelaide International, and Perth International in the country. Qantas itself operates a joint venture with Qatar competitor Emirates (EK, Dubai International).