The Gulf’s Airlines Are Winning on Product but Losing at Politics

Gulf airliners Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways, and Qatar Airways (known collectively as the ME3) certainly have a winning product. They have won over customers with newer aircraft, better service and highly competitive fares on flights that can span the globe with a single layover. Yet much as the ME3 have proved economically successful, they are at a political disadvantage in facing down their American competitors for one simple reason: National appeals and state boundaries divide them rather than unite them. ...