Airline Continues to Stonewall Repeated Requests for Transparency

The Partnership for Open & Fair Skies is raising multiple questions about today’s announcement from Etihad Airways on its 2014 financial summary, which claims the airline earned $73 million in net profits for the year.

“Etihad continues to claim that it is profitable, but it refuses to open its books because it knows the subsidies it receives from the treasury of the United Arab Emirates are in direct violation of Open Skies policies. Just because Etihad says it is profitable, doesn’t make it so,” said Jill Zuckman, chief spokesperson for the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies. “These types of subsidies disrupt the entire international aviation market and destroy any semblance of fair competition.”

“The Partnership for Open & Fair Skies again calls on Etihad and the other state-owned Gulf carriers to release their financial statements,” said Zuckman. “Transparency is imperative to the health of the aviation industry and any airline not playing by the same set of rules must be held accountable.”

Complete financial documents for each of the three U.S. airlines in the Partnership can be found here: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines.

By touting a “summary” instead of providing full disclosure of financial statements and details, as U.S. airline carriers do, it is impossible to determine how much additional money was funneled directly to Etihad Airways from the government of the UAE in 2014. Additionally, Etihad claims this information is in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) but it departed from IFRS rules in 2012 and 2013, and in 2013 alone, this departure enabled Etihad to report a “profit” for the year instead of a $500 million loss.

A two-year investigative study found that the UAE has provided over $17 billion to Etihad Airways in subsidies and other unfair benefits. The study also found that Etihad’s recent claims of profitability were unfounded.

The Partnership, along with 262 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, mayors of multiple major U.S. cities, and dozens of business, trade and economic groups around the country, is asking the U.S. government to open consultations with Qatar and UAE and is seeking an immediate freeze on the introduction of new passenger service by the Gulf carriers during these consultations.