A few weeks ago I wrote rumors that Emirates Airline would start laying off employees and I was considering grounding much of the A380’s fleet permanently. Although we do not yet know about the future of the A380 fleet, Emirates is today informing a significant number of flight attendants and pilots who are about to end.
EMIRATES BEGINS MASS LAYOFFS
A couple of weeks ago Emirates fired newly hired flight attendants and pilots who had recently completed training or were still trained. Today the airline took job cuts to the next level, including the layoff of many employees who had been with the company for a long time.
Based on my sources, e-mails were sent to many flight attendants and pilots late at night, informing them that they had to attend mandatory meetings today at Emirates training college.
It appears that the airline has essentially engaged in group layoffs. When people arrived at training college, their names were removed from a list and assigned a room. Once the room was filled, there was a quick meeting informing everyone that they were going to be closed:
- There was no mention of the possibility of being summarized in the future
- The managers responsible for the fires said they had no detailed insights into the reason and that they were the messengers only
- I understand that the layoffs were largely aimed at those who had previously received warnings, those who suffered from serious illnesses and those who had previously failed training
At the conclusion of these meetings, employees received letters describing what the closure process will look like:
- There is a 90 day notice period
- There is no right of appeal against the dismissal decision
- Since the company issues work visas to the UAE, there is a 29-day “grace period” beyond the 90-day notice period and, at that point, people must leave the country
- For situations where employees cannot leave the country due to the closure of borders, these visas can be extended
- Those who are to remain in the country will continue to receive housing and receive 25% of their basic salary
- At the time of separation with the company, employees will receive any pending renumbering, the value of unused annual leave and an end-of-service benefit
Emirates advances with further layoffs of the cabin and pilot crew
OTHER EMIRATES EMPLOYEES GET 50% WAGES REDUCTIONS
This week’s news for Emirates employees goes beyond closed news. Many company employees who are still in employment receive a 50% reduction in their base salary between July 1 and September 30, 2020.
Over the past two months, the company has reduced wages for many frontline employees by 25%, but now that amount is increasing.
For flight attendants, the reduction in real wages is greater than 50%:
- The basic salary is reduced by 50%, but flight attendants are also normally paid for flight hours
- With most flight attendants flying very little (if at all), they also lose their flight wages
- This means that for many flight attendants the pay cut is 60% longer
Emirates is also cutting wages for many employees by 50%
BOTTOM LINE
My thoughts are with all those of Emirates today who are losing their jobs. It is especially difficult when you get fired after moving somewhere for a job, with no chance of staying. Many people have built lives in Dubai, now they are forced to leave them behind.
In the end we don’t know how many people Emirates fired and we may not know for a while. Also, the odds are that we will see more layoffs in the coming weeks, as it would appear that they are making layoffs in stages.
First they fired those still in training, then they fired those who had performance problems and who knows which group would be next …