Hector Barreto, Chairman of The Latino Coalition and former US Small Business Administrator, on the Gulf carriers’ anticompetitive practices:

“[A] trio of airlines from the Persian Gulf isn’t playing by the rules — the very rules that their own governments agreed to. Government subsidies are not allowed under the Open Skies agreements that both the United Arab Emirates and Qatar signed with the United States, yet those two countries are pumping tens of billions of dollars in subsidies into their state-owned airlines in order to give them an unfair advantage over U.S. airlines… The results of these unfair business practices by Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways are clear. Hardworking Americans who play by the rules will see their livelihoods threatened, and U.S. consumers will be left with fewer options, as the U.S. airlines are forced to cut back on both international and domestic routes.”

Ted Reed, writing at Forbes, on the lack of transparency from the Gulf carriers:

“Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways have reported profits for 2014, but it’s a challenge to determine whether the profits are real…due to inaccuracies in past financial statements, particularly accounting that credited the company with a $213 million 2013 operating profit. The alleged profit…resulted from the $700 million sale of Etihad’s frequent flyer program to a related company, Etihad Guest, which is owned and controlled by the airline…‘These carriers don’t release financial statements the way the U.S. carriers do and their past financial reporting practices leave a lot to be desired,’ said Jill Zuckman, spokesperson for the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies, which represents the big three U.S. carriers and their unions… ‘Now the subsidized carriers are increasingly dumping capacity in the U.S and they are reporting alleged profits as a public relations maneuver,’ Zuckman said.”