Qatar Airways CEO Callas US Flight Attendants ‘Grandmothers’
If you’re an avid reader of BoardingArea blogs, I’m sure you’ve seen this story once or twice by now. At an event celebrating Qatar Airways’ new service from Doha to Dublin, CEO Akbar al-Baker made a few anti-US airline remarks. However, that’s not the story.
Al-Baker has been known to make his fair share of anti-US airline remarks. He’s even launched a route just out of spite. Though Al-Baker called US airlines “crap” and questioned why anyone would ever fly on a US carrier, he made one remark about the flight attendants of US-based airlines that was downright disgusting.
At the event, Al-Baker noted that “There’s no reason for you to travel on these crap American carriers.” That remark doesn’t come as a surprise. As previously mentioned, Al-Baker has been vocal about his disdain for US carriers. It’s what follows that is truly disgusting and ageist.
“You’ll always be served by grandmothers“, Al-Baker explained. He continued, “The average age of my cabin crew is 26.”
No, I’m not debating that airlines including Qatar Airways, Emirates, and Etihad offer a much better onboard product. Not only do these airlines offer a better hard product but the service offered by these airlines is also unrivaled. However, where Al-Baker went wrong was linking age to poor service.
Qatar’s new QSuite (Image: Qatar Airways)
Calling flight attendants based in the US “grandmothers” is just disgusting. Sure, the average flight attendant in the US is older than the average flight attendant in the Middle East. However, I still don’t understand why this matters. Just because an individual is older doesn’t mean they can’t do their job and do it well. The ‘grandmothers’ comment essentially links poor service on US carriers to age. Not only is that ageist, it’s just not true.
I’d say upwards of 95% of my travels are within the United States. I don’t usually have the time nor the money to travel internationally a great deal so I settle with travel throughout the US. That said, I feel like I’m able to provide a pretty good overview of service as it correlates to age. Not only do I travel often but I know quite a few US-based flight attendants.
Why Akbar Al-Baker’s Remarks Are Personal
Al-Baker’s comments hit home with me. I’m the son of a life-long flight attendant. My mother has been a flight attendant since the late 1980s. She’s the reason I got into aviation and later points and miles. She’s the reason I travel. Today, she’s in her late 50s and yes, she’s actually a grandmother. Guess what? She still manages to work like crazy and provide fantastic and friendly service on every flight she works.
My mother has been waking up at 3:45 AM for decades, taking long flights on dated aircraft, and has even been robbed of her pension. But guess what? She’s remained resilient and passionate about her career for over 30 years. I’ve had the pleasure of being able to be a passenger on a handful of flights on which she worked and I was in awe. I watched as my mom, working on 3 hours of sleep, worked to get a flight out on time, personally welcome every passenger with a smile, provide warm and professional service, thank every passenger upon arrival, and then do it again a day later.
On the other hand, as a young person, I can say that young and fresh doesn’t mean better service. I’ve flown on many flights with 20 somethings in charge and guess what? The service pails in comparison to the service I’ve received on flights with pursers who are in their late 60s. No, I’m not blaming poor service on age but rather attitude and experience.
American Airlines flight attendants (Image: American Airlines)
Experienced flight attendants know how to do the job. They know what works and they know what doesn’t. Young people have their entire lives ahead of them and for many, being a flight attendant is just a temporary gig. These ‘grandmothers’ you see in the aisle have invested time, effort, money, and their entire lives into an airline. Some have prospered and others are still working to get their pension.
I know the CEO of Qatar won’t ever see this but I wish he would. Maybe if he stepped out of his oil sheik bubble he’d meet real people. Stupid, ageist, sexist, and abhorrent comments like this enrage me.
He spews load of BS from being the head of airline that gets MILLIONS of government subsidies that enables them to under price national airlines in the USA and Europe. WHAT A PIG. I understand that Canada was SMART enough to prevent them from landing in THAT country.
As a 71 year old, I can state that I prefer Qatar flight attendants to those of the US purely for aesthetic reasons.