Emirates has laid off over a thousand employees including 700 cabin crew and 600 pilots, most of whom flew the superjumbo Airbus A380 or were in training for type-rating the aircraft, sources familiar with the matter told Arabian Business.
"We have endeavored to sustain the current family as is... but have come to the conclusion that we unfortunately have to say goodbye to a few of the wonderful people that worked with us," the airline said in an email to staff.
In a statement to Arabian Business, Emirates said: “As previously communicated, we at Emirates have been doing everything possible to retain the talented people that make up our workforce for as long as we can. However, given the significant impact that the pandemic has had on our business, we simply cannot sustain excess resources and have to right size our workforce in line with our reduced operations.
"After reviewing all scenarios and options, we deeply regret that we have to let some of our people go. This was a very difficult decision and not one that we took lightly. The company is doing everything possible to protect the workforce wherever we can. Where we are forced to take tough decisions we will treat people with fairness and respect. We will work with impacted employees to provide them with all possible support.”
In May Bloomberg reported that Emirates plans to cut as 30,000 jobs, or 30% of its workforce, as the world's largest long-haul carrier struggles to preserve cash amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has severely impacted airlines around the world.
It has already begun operating scheduled flight services to nine destinations around the world including London Heathrow, Frankfurt, Paris, Milan, Madrid, Chicago, Toronto, Sydney and Melbourne.
The Dubai-based carrier is also ramping up its return to the skies with the resumption of passenger flights to 30 cities, including the relaunch of its transit operations.
Flights to Bahrain, Manchester, Zurich, Vienna, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Dublin, New York JFK, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Jakarta, Taipei, Hong Kong, Perth, Brisbane and Kabul, will be available from June 15 on the carrier’s 777-300ER aircraft.
Source: arabianbusiness.com
BDST: 1555 HRS, JUN 11, 2020
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