Rogue Redundancies at Emirates Airline

[Koekie]

Emirates redundancies are not being discussed in details as they should be, if for anything to expose unethical practices, hold the airline accountable and most important support the thousands of expatriates out there suffering mentally, emotionally and physically.

Redundancies are happening across all airlines and this isn't a secret and shouldn't be quite frankly. Emirates kicked off this path on a rather deceptive tone hiding redundancies and completely shying away from transparency. Why might that be? what was making them so unique? Is it that they came out claiming a strong financial and business structure and when they could no longer keep that pretense up they opted to do what they do best and hide realty? why are they always prone to being fake?

Behind the perfectly structured PR they are running to fund COVID19 care for their customers their employees made redundant are suffering major incompetence.
- The Airline redundancy contract states it will provide a "hardship allowance" should they fail to repatriate you back to your country by your LDS date; receiving this payment is a fight, has no clear structure and quite frankly you could leave the country not having received a dime despite having not being repatriated within the contractual agreement.
- Airline says they will pay out 2 months salary, the actual standard by law is 3 months salary. But of cause they are the government so you get only what they say. There have been issues around paying these salaries and no explanations offered for the indiscretion.
- HR services is drowning in management of the leaving process, with communication spanning weeks if not happening at all. processes are being fumbled, yet every time the airline restructures their HR department is the first to see impact. their incompetence failure to plan and mismanagement is just appalling! All this and they keep requiring redundant employees to understand their circumstances while they fail to empathize with their employees. All support lines were deactivated despite the outcry in need for support.
- End of service benefits are not being paid on time. Some employees have flights booked to depart in the next few days yet no check payment is ready for issuance.
- Employment visas are not being cancelled, employees show up at the airport for booked flights (all flights are booked by the airline) and unable to proceed due to active visas/expired visas with overstay fees etc. The airline has been leaving employees stranded at not just DXB airport but even other airports for those who have connecting flights. Their HR department operates Sun-Thur only 07:00-15:30pm/15:00. If you find yourself in this situation outside of office hours with no support structure from your management you're in trouble and alone! They've gone as ridiculously far as telling employees to settle visa fee issues and claim, who would dare when communication with HR is near impossible while in the country? what more when you've left completely! ignoring emails is a master skill. Visa cancellation is their responsibility, they knew very well they were going to undergo mass redundancies why should employees carry the burden? where is the humanity?

In the media they spoke to highly of their appreciation for their work force, they acknowledged their awareness of how redundancy was destroying lives. Behind closed doors where the media wasn't reporting people suffered humiliation, well-beings were compromised and those affected afraid to speak up because that's potential a offence and is punishable by law.

This Airline gets away with a lot honestly. Their country laws shield them from fair and just scrutiny hence they are never ever questioned or held accountable! yet they enjoy the economic benefits of a diverse range of economies! Take a look at Black lives matter, did anyone scrutinize into their Executive structure? Why not when they have a very strong profitable route flying in and out of Africa? For an establishment that is trying to be in the top 100 brands its high time they come to the table on humanity issues!!

[fatbus]

Take it to the media not pprune , this is a good place to vent but that's it . We can only offer moral support to help individuals get through the cycle .

[FlyingAce77]

This is the case in Qatar as well, its a Middle East Mentality, Their time is up honestly.. Might as well make a Twitter post about this, These ME3 Airlines cannot tolerate bad PR, its high time People start speaking up.

[5star]

You could indeed take it to the press. A simple look at the speadsheet one fellow pilot made with seniority numbers says it all...
But ask yourself: will it change something?....I doubt it...
There are thousands and thousands with zero experience in the market willing to jump if EK opens up again....So thats the card they played....
it is indeed a very major upset, and for a lot of us hard to swallow, but I suggest to put your energy in other things...They're not worth it that you waste your time or lose your energy over them. You simply can't win....
good luck nevertheless....

[Koekie]

This was a sharing for discussion which I think Pprune is about.

I did not know Qatar was the same when it came to PR stunts. I found them more forth coming when it came to discussing redundancies during this period but I guess that was what was in the media and unfortunately what isn't seen is usually lacking of humanity.

If we walked around life saying nothing will change why bother saying anything at all, so many injustices would be prevailing. We’ve seen unity change and hold individuals and organizations accountable, so it's a possibility. I'm one person sadly and that's a hard battle and you are right it wouldn't be worth the time and especially the strain.

[wisedude]

Very true, they win because people think there is nothing that can be done, but there is a simple solution, spread the word, use social media like you use it to send memes and jokes, let all the people know that their service is not good, and their safety standards are crap, don't fly them, even if they are cheaper or give you and extra piece of bread, or more available movies. Support your national carriers don't to dubai trying to avoid the cold weather in Europe or somewhere else. Without us customers, they are nothing, they panic when something hits the media, there is always something we can do, educate our friends, relatives, neighbors, tell them how it is the real ME, so they don't fly them, that would really nake an impact, most of tourist come from developed countries, where the money is. So when this covid passes, fly your national carriers, support them and their employees, don't give your money to the arabs. Nothing lasts forever, and they are not inmune to that, let them stay in their beloved desert.

[fatbus]

Social media is a very powerful weapon . I would encourage everyone to use it to spread the word how EK destroys people's lives and treats current employees. Their true colours have come out ! Spineless!

[mmorel]

that's true but remember many people from middle east countries like Iran , Iraq , ... don't have any choices . they are forced to use airline like Emirate or Qatar airways to travel to North America .

Pilots were needed in Qatar that's why they gave them respect . just look at how they treat flight attendants ( have to beat their apartment before 10 pm ) or slaves they hire to build stadium . they might treat feature flight crew like them . That's Sad

[gtaflyer]

Unfortunately the leave process is not so shiny as the recruitment process when they hired you. Remember the beautiful videos and slogans when they came out to your capital city roadshows, they were begging you to join remember the slogans Emirates, From Dubai to destinations around the world, Keep Discovering, Hello Tomorrow, and is currently Fly Emirates, Fly Better. Well you will never be duped again that’s for sure, or is it? Yes all those road shows tv adverts and life in the desert driving buggies across the dunes believe me you will know better next time.

just remember they don’t have the firing budget now that they had for the hiring budget years ago.if it makes you feel better they are throwing people under the bus down the Unmentionable road, across the borders and elsewhere. The problem with leaving Middle East is not the Middle East it’s the problems you will face back home after years of neglect of family friends and home country licenses, not to mention the world of commerce particularly the U.K. going to the dogs. Just remember you will come out of this and for the better, stronger person just be adaptable.

please use the slogans to your advantage now, you say hello to your new tomorrow

[fatbus]

AAR once said ," pilots are not here to have fun , they are here to work !" . He demanded his pound of flesh and did not care about you one bit . Unfortunately a False sense of security for those with years of service, never again will anyone ever feel secure in the ME . I know 25+ year true company guys fired !. That being said the back stabbing will happen when the hiring starts up . The 1000's of P2F types will do anything for the job and take what ever the T & C's are .

[Fired600]

And we did work! Didn’t we just! They had their pound of flesh and more

[Koekie]

Ha-ha haha... Indeed we will never forget! But every dog has it's day :)

[bafanguy]

Take it to the media not pprune...

Unfortunately, the public couldn't care less about airline pilots and their problems. And I'm not sure why they would; what can they be expected to do about it ? An airline only reacts to a decrease in revenue. And the public only cares about a cheap ticket. As long as they get that, you never cross their minds.

I'm personally opposed to appealing to the public or media. Without union representation your choices for addressing grievances are limited. If you need to shut down the airline by walking off then do that.

I hope things improve for you folks over there (and here too).

[Cantbebothered]

Exactly. Whingeing on social media will just make you look like a bitter ex-employee. The public does not care.

[Sam Ting Wong]

I don't think it is reasonable nor sincere to expect sympathy for pilots.

Let's be honest, you all accepted the injustice and appalling working conditions in the ME as long as it did not affect you.

We are all mercenary expats who did not care about human rights up to now..

Not trying to be smart here, guilty as charged myself.

[Landflap]

Bit harsh Sam. I saw the appalling ME quite quickly and left. Many of us mercenary expats do care about human rights, but often, in situ, there is little we can do.Wound up in the FE. Same. Little I could do but as a "commercial" pilot, made my deal from my commercial side of the table & accepted the commercial deal offered from the other side. That is what we "commercial" pilots do.

[Sam Ting Wong]

Well, you don't have to accept an employment offer, do you? One could exclude categorically employers because of ethical standards or human rights. It's a choice.

Just saying I do not expect any empathy from the public, mistreatment of labour is nothing new in many regions of the world. Nobody cares about pilots. Again, I am in a (very similar ) boat, not trying to be harsh or offend anyone.

[Piet Lood]

not trying to be harsh or offend anyone.

But you’re so good at it.

One of my favourite instructors once said: “I’m not TRYING to be an asshole. It just comes naturally”

Hi STW, imagine seeing you here.

[BOEMBUS]

If being realistic and finally honest about the whole fiasco as being an A#shole, then the people here have a long long way to go before they realize the world doesn't revolve around their Beemer, boat, jet ski, bike, a couple of expensive totties and their £3000+ a month tiny apartment..
There is a world outside the mislead priveleged confined trimmed lawn 4 bedroomed tacky villa that all seem to believe they are in cloud 9 while in EK..

While most expat pilots truly believed they were untouchable at work and out in Shk Zayed road, the truth that hit them is so profound, that all they do now is whinge whinge and a tad more whinging just in case..

Remember the CC you went out with that could not belive you left them and went around talking crap about you and your deficiencies in bed, well, that's how you sound...

[Themeatfleet]

STW & Boembus are right.

If anyone honestly thinks that the way pilots have been treated for the past 6 months is that bad, ask the baggage handler or taxi driver how many days off they had in the past month, and how many people they share a dorm with. Everyone in the world has been touched by this virus and you think the public are going to feel sorry for a group of people who are at the top end of the earning scale normally? The same people you want to boycott EK are the people whose patronage has paid and funded your lifestyle.

Losing ones job is always hard, but don’t pretend you didn’t know they’d be a bit cold in their treatment. At least you didn’t have your passport seized, forced to work 29 days out of 30, given annual leave once every two years, made to live in a dorm with 20 other people, paid 1,500 dhs and still get thrown out. They are the ones who deserve any sympathy.

[Piet Lood]

Absolutely, you (and STW) are right: nobody will (nor should) care about the pilot’s plight.
Except STW doesn’t care about all those people you mentioned either.
He’s a (multi-?)millionaire in HKG and he’s allright Jack. Doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the state of aviation that he will soon leave behind, nor the people it involves.
STW doesn’t believe in fighting for anyone but himself and he’s quite good at that!
But at least he’s honest about it, so that puts him one ring above most of them/us.

[Koekie]

The post was speaking at all grades of Employment within the group. That bottom line spoken of very much exists too within EK.

It’s quite frustrating how normalized their behavior is, the whole ME. I strongly believe if we were talking about Facebook, Google, or Coca Cola there would be a lot of responsibility and accountability required of them.
We’ve seen it on other topics related to ethics, diversity, inclusion etc too and the likes of EK get exempted from topics of accountability and scrutiny. Why is that?

I don’t think expecting humanly treatment for processing of end of service is asking for “special treatment.” Who else must cancel the visa? Pay for penalties if the visa was expired at time of redundancy? As for scrambling for EOS payments it’s disgusting conduct to say the least.
yes I accepted the job does that mean i can’t speak out against lack of humanity? Come on.
personally I expected bad treatment, they have a reputation for that during resignation. But the redundancy treatment was beyond their usual unprofessional. Yet they were in the media singing false songs about their Value for “people” 🙄

Humans come out to talk about injustice so change can happen. I think it is poor thinking to say no one cares. Look at the history of causes that have come out and needed to come out and the results that yield. It may not happen overnight, but awareness & conversation is a good start. It is precisely this mentality of no one cares that has enabled EK & the whole of the ME to remain so protected from public scrutiny. I’m just curious to find out WHY? When they fly globally and enjoy the economic benefits of other countries!

[Koekie]

That last paragraph is so funny!

Someone start a thread that brings pilots to the stand before the masses to account for their transgressions!!
**wives should go into hiding**

clearly there are things to settle!

so funny!

[White Knight]

then the people here have a long long way to go before they realize the world doesn't revolve around their Beemer, boat, jet ski, bike, a couple of expensive totties and their £3000+ a month tiny apartment..

Try not to tar us all with the same brush:=