Emirates airline has commenced the process – with layoffs en masse. Sources claim that on Tuesday, June 9th, the UAE flag-carrier let 600 pilots go, all at once.
A couple of weeks ago, Emirates began the process of laying off those pilots and flight attendants most recently hired and still in training. Now, the airline has reportedly taken it a step further, letting crew go that has been with the company for some time.
Pilots and flight attendants
As reported by MoneyControl, Emirates today went ahead and let 600 of its pilots know their services will no longer be needed. Sources familiar with the matter told the media outlet that the pilots were first officers who were under training for type-rating for the A380. If this is so, then it remains to be seen what it means for the airline’s plans for its superjumbos.
Flight attendants were also included in the redundancies, but information as to how many is yet to surface. However, all those informed of the termination of their contracts were on probation.
Let go in groups
Sources have also informed One Mile At A Time just how these mass layoffs were conducted. Affected employees reportedly received e-mails late on Monday. They were told that they needed to be present for meetings at the Emirates training college on Tuesday.
Upon arrival, they assembled in different rooms. When the room was full, the people present were informed as a group that their contracts were to be terminated.
Apparently, there was no mention of the possibility of rehiring in the future, nor was there any detailed reason provided for the layoffs. OMAAT believes the layoffs were targeted to those who had previously received warnings, failed training, or had high levels of sick leave.
Termination conditions
When the meetings were over, employees received letters outlining what the conditions for the terminations would look like. These include a 90 day notice period, without the right to appeal the redundancy decision. Furthermore, as many of Emirates employees are in the UAE on work visas, there will be an additional grace period of 29 days following the notice period before they will need to leave.
Should any employee that has been made redundant be unable to leave due to travel bans in their home country, they will continue to receive housing as well as 25% of their base salary.
Pay-cuts extended until October
Along with its compatriot Etihad, Emirates has also extended the period of reduced pay for employees. Originally intended to last three months from April, the cash-saving measure has now been prolonged until September 30th, Reuters reports.
In some cases, pay-cuts will also be more severe. Deductions from base salaries could be as large as 50%, Emirates Group informed its employees in an internal e-mail seen by the news outlet. This does not leave much of a salary for crew who is also dependent on the pay they receive for hours flown, when nearly the entire fleet remains grounded.
Both Emirati flag-carriers have been operating a skeleton schedule of mostly outbound flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi, respectively. However, they will recommence some connecting flights later this month, if travel restrictions allow.
Simple Flying has reached out to Emirates for a comment but was yet to receive a reply at the time of publication.
