UAE airlines face further job losses

Etihad flight crews are fearfully checking their emails. The airline has advised that if they don’t hear from the airline then they still have a job – meanwhile hundreds of staff are receiving the mails that summons them to a one-on-on meeting to tell them their jobs have gone.
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In a memo to cabin crews, seen by Arabian Aerospace, the company said. “We must face the reality that, at least for the immediate future, we’re going to be operating at a reduced capacity. It’s becoming clear that as the COVID-19 crisis has continued, we’re simply unable to sustain the current number of employees we have.”

The memo from Sulaiman Yaqoobi, vice president of flight operations, explained how challenging it was to have the “difficult conversations” with individuals and so were changing the approach so that all those impacted would receive email inviting them to meet with a crew engagement manager.
“To those of you leaving us, please do not see this as being ‘fired’ or ‘terminated’, what is happening is a direct consequence of the COVID-19 crisis,” the memo continued. “To those of you not directly impact, now more than ever we must come together to weather this storm and continue to deliver the world-class service that Etihad is known for”.
Meanwhile staff at Air Arabia are steeling themselves for similar outcomes. The region’s leading low-cost carrier is expecting to ground at least 17 aircraft for the foreseeable future.
Sources within the airline suggest that these A320s will remain out of service until 2021 and that there will be redundancies to match the reduction in the fleet.