Boeing is a mightier aircraft maker than Airbus: Qatar Airways CEO

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker

Boeing is a mightier aircraft maker than Airbus, says Qatar CEO Akbar Al Baker

CNBC’s Phil LeBeau joins ‘Squawk Box’ with Akbar Al Baker, Qatar CEO, to discuss the company, the airline industry, and his ongoing lawsuit with Airbus.

Boeing is a mightier aircraft maker than Airbus, Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said during a briefing at the Farnborough air show on Monday.

Talking to CNBC's Phil LeBeau on the news programme 'Squawk Box', Al Baker weighed on Qatar Airways' dispute with Airbus and its possible impact on the airline’s future plane orders.

Qatar Airways is suing France-based Airbus for $1.4 billion over damage to the painted surface and anti-lightning system on A350 jets, saying safety could be at risk from a design defect. Airbus acknowledges quality flaws but insists the jets are safe.

Baker said the airline was forced to drag the matter to court because there was no other alternative. Many months of "painstaking discussions" with Airbus did not yield any positive result, he added.

"Till today, though they publically say they are trying to have an amicable settlement. They are not. We want the problem to be fixed and we had to go to court," he said.

"If you mistreat your customer, look down upon them, and then you are destroying your reputation in the industry. Everybody is watching. I was bold enough to go to court because we needed a solution... I have full confidence in the legal system in England," Baker said.

The CEO said the airline proved itself to be a reliable airline during COVID-19.

"We never stopped [services during the pandemic]. We didn't leave millions of passengers stranded. As a matter of fact, we carried 3.3 million passengers during the peak of the [pandemic], from March to June of 2020 safely to their homes. Most of them had never travelled on [Qatar Airways]. This really showed them our product, our commitment to passengers in need," he said.

"We gave nearly $1.5 billion immediate refunds to passengers who couldn't travel and we even gave the opportunity to passengers to change their tickets, change their routes, including up to 500 nautical miles extra without any charges. So, this gave confidence to people and this is what made our airline to be only the most profitable airline during 2021."