Agony as Emirates and Qatar plan for job losses

Emirates managers are said to be ‘agonising’ over future plans for the long-haul dominated airline.
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Bloomburg and other media outlets have reported that major cuts are coming while the airline has pushed messages through local media to say that it is “reviewing costs like 'any responsible business' amid the pandemic”.

Expectation is rising within the airline that the “bad news” will come in the next week.
One insider said his department has drawn up a list of 30%, to be cut, among the likelihood that 46 A380s will be decommissioned. Most at risk are likely to be employees aged over 60. those with a poor sickness record and below average performance levels.

Discussions are also taking place on extending the half pay for a further 3 months, for the employees that remain.

“No announcement has been made regarding mass redundancies at the airline. Any such decision will be communicated in an appropriate fashion,” an Emirates representative said.

Bloomburg said in a report this week that the job losses could exceed 30,000.

Meanwhile the Dubai carrier’s competitor in Doha could be losing up to 10,000 staff as CEO Akbar Al Baker warned of 20% cuts in his fleet. It is set to retire around 50 aircraft and cut almost a fifth of its staff in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking to the BBC, Al Baker said: “It’s a very hard decision… but we have no alternative.”

The airline currently has a fleet of 245 aircraft, of which around half are in temporary storage due to the capacity cuts.