Originally Posted by
DuneMentat
I'm sure this is a very calculated decision. By not forcing people on unpaid leave and with most crew in Dubai they are ready to ramp up with a day's notice when the go is given thereby grabbing a big market share of those who have to travel as soon as they can (lots of people are stuck overseas).
That's a good point. Another thing that comes to mind is that a significant proportion of EK's capacity has served markets that have (so far!) been relatively unaffected by Covid-19; India, much of SEA, Africa etc... I assume that most of that demand will come back quite quickly if the infection numbers in these areas stabilise in the next weeks. Contrast with the American and European airlines, who I think have a much higher capacity serving the badly hit regions.
With its geographically diversified route footprint, if I were a pilot, I'd personally rather be at EK than almost any other airline I can think of right now - purely in terms of job security.