I think things may be as dire as the doomsayers are saying they are, so I wouldn't be too sure they won't park a few aircraft (and therefore some of us). A talking head on Dubai Eye this morning said that the UAE building sector was down 52% - that's UAE. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the drop in Dubai building was even higher than that to make an average of 52% across all the emirates. (Elsewhere, I've heard that over 90,000 people have left Dubai since the crunch first began to bite.)
He went on to say that it was hard to get answers on how many projects had actually been cancelled as opposed to being put on hold, as developers don't want to give the bad news to investors who've put money up front that they may not see any return on in the foreseeable future, if at all. He mentioned that there were many buildings incomplete, 'on hold' and the interiors exposed to the elements.
Others have mentioned, quite correctly, the enormous expenses involved in sacking pilots (cancelled visas, housing, termination benefits to name but a few of the factors that would come into play, to say nothing of the expense - and delay - in employing and training new start pilots when they eventually are required again).
Unfortunately, we have a precedent that money pouring in torrents out of one pocket to save a trickle from another hasn't stopped them from taking (shall we call it) 'precipitate' action in the past. The Alteon SFIs to replace our own TCIs, allegedly at four times the price, comes immediately to mind.
Last edited by Wiley; 3rd Feb 2009 at 05:01.
Reason: typo