In the past few months, Qatar Airways has repatriated more than 160,000 Americans back to the U.S. The airline has gradually begun to add new destinations and resume flight operations in the U.S. and around the world as countries reopen.
In an interview with TravelAge West, Eric Odone, senior vice president of the Americas for Qatar Airways, explains how the airline plans to operate and expand during the ongoing pandemic.
How has Qatar Airways continued to operate during the pandemic?
We were contacted by governments and embassies all over the world about people who were stranded after a lot of countries closed within 24 hours. We decided to continue flying and negotiated with governments to reopen air spaces to create charter flights. Over the course of the pandemic, we have carried a total of 1.8 million people.
Has the airline introduced any new policies to instill confidence in travelers?
People were worried about buying tickets and then having to wait for refunds. So, we created a policy called Travel With Confidence that allows for unlimited date changes for no fee and a change of destination if its within 5,000 miles of the original destination. Also, if you do not want to travel at all, you can exchange the value of the ticket for a travel voucher, and you’ll get an additional value of 10% that is valid for two years. If the flight is actually canceled, you get a full refund.
We have upgraded more of our hygiene protocols and made masks mandatory. Our crew wears full personal protective equipment (PPE) over their uniform with masks and goggles. We have massive bottles of hand sanitizer in the aircraft.
We are also able to control the hygiene in Doha International Airport because we manage the hygiene there. The standards are super high, and the airport employs amazing technological advances in automation including robots with ultraviolet light to kill germs in the air.
We also now have a codeshare on American Airlines flights within the U.S. It is gradual; at the moment, it’s probably around 600 daily codeshares, and we think it’s going to potentially reach 1,000. From the booking perspective, it is a little easier for people to actually travel from wherever they are in the U.S.
We make sure that we are super reactive by putting flights up and assessing the reaction. All of that helps to recreate the traffic flow that has been there for so many years and is so essential to international air travel.
What has been the process for reintroducing flights?
From the feedback we got from people traveling, we realized there was more and more demand. So, we decided to start increasing our schedule. We opened John F. Kennedy International Airport on June 19, and we are reopening Los Angeles, Boston and Washington, D.C., airports on July 1. Normally, we have 10 gateways in the U.S. — but we are back to six, which is exciting.
We are still seeing a lot repatriation flights, so we are receiving quite a few one-way flights, but we are also seeing a lot of returns.
Can you share how Qatar is moving forward and helping air travel rebound?
The future of aviation involves listening to what customers want, which is complete transparency on hygiene protocols and a lot more flexibility and understanding of conditions attached to pricing.
What matters is to be agile. We introduced some flights, and we did not know what the reaction would be. Was it the right time? Was it too early? We tested the waters and introduced a few flights from Los Angeles, and there was big demand. So, we are now up to five weekly flights from Los Angeles, starting July 17. Starting Aug. 1, there will be six weekly flights.
As soon as a new country opens, we put up our planes there straight away. We make sure that we are super reactive by putting flights up and assessing the reaction. All of that helps to recreate the traffic flow that has been there for so many years and is so essential to international air travel.
The Details
Qatar Airways
www.qatarairways.com
