On Wednesday, Emirates laid off more pilots and cabin crew in a second day of redundancies at one of the largest long-haul carriers in the globe, company sources said.
A spokesperson for Emirates did not issue any statement on Tuesday beyond the airline's comment that some workers had been terminated. No further details have been given.
Hundreds of pilots and cabin crew were given the pink slip Tuesday by the Dubai-headquartered carrier in an attempt to prevent a financial collapse brought about by the global health crisis, sources disclosed to Reuters.
More redundancies have been anticipated in the coming days, including pilots from both Airbus A380 and Boeing, sources said.
Now the carrier expects that it will take around four years before it can resume operations to all the 157 destinations it had served before the pandemic. Meanwhile, Israel's El Al airline could return to state ownership. The business was in negotiations over assistance with ministers.
The move may see the government acquire new shares that the airlines has issued, giving it a controlling share. El Al has already seen losses for two years, and has racked up debts to renew its fleet. Without government support, it disclosed that it would face bankruptcy. Less than two decades ago, the airline was privatized.
According to sources, as many as 600 pilots and almost 7,000 cabin personnel could have lost their jobs by end of Tuesday. Emirates has been grounded since March this year after the coronavirus pandemic forced nations around the world to shut down their borders and suspend air travel.
Dubai, where Emirates is based, has established a name as an international center for transit passengers travelling between Europe, Asia, and Africa. Workers were notified late Monday that they must attend meetings on Tuesday to get updates on their work status.
A Dubai government pledge to offer new equity for Emirates would allow the carrier to preserve its skilled manpower, the company disclosed on May 10. Since then, the airline has laid off personnel, which sources previously said were cabin crew and trainee pilots.
Emirates Airlines has operated on a very limited capacity, a huge volume of which is outbound services from the United Arab Emirates since it grounded commercial flights last March, but is poised to restart some connecting flights this month after the government lifted a suspension.
Meanwhile, a termination document seen by Bloomberg revealed that the employees would be paid their basic salary including fixed allowances until September 13.
