Originally Posted by
irishguy28
The timing might suggest so, but I really don't think this has anything to do with Trump.
Eithad is going through the first rough patch in its short history. For the first time ever - or at least in a long time - it has reduced the number of destinations it is flying to. It needs to take a pause and get its house in order - particularly as its own core business is now in trouble, together with the fact that it's been distracted for the last several years trying to resusciate both airberlin and Alitalia.
Of course, it is no bad thing NOT to antagonise Trump by launching new services right now. But Etihad is in uncharted territory at the moment.
There are four reasons, why Trump is the main reason for EY's decision:
- the US economic will decrease on mid- and long-term. Less economic means less passengers.
- even if the UAE are not concerned by the ban (yet), it will effect the business.
- AA, UA and Delta want to stop the subsidies for EY. With Trump and "America first", they have better chances to get heard by the US government.
- the meaning of China as a reliable trading partner will increase, so there is a good alternative for investments (Africa is the second one).