Emirates Airline begins mass sack of staff, pay cuts

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By Bayo King

Emirates Airline may have been hit by the recession in the airline industry as latest report shows that the company has begun mass layoffs of personnel and pay cuts on the salaries of those allowed to stay.  One Mile at a Time  reports that a couple of weeks ago Emirates laid off newly hired flight attendants and pilots, who had either recently completed training, or were still being trained. Today the airline has taken job cuts to the next level, including laying off many employees who had been at the company for a long time.

Inside sources said late last night emails were sent to many flight attendants and pilots, informing them that they had to attend mandatory meetings today at the Emirates training college. It seems that the airline has essentially engaged in group layoffs. As people arrived at the training college their names were checked off a list and they were assigned a room. Once the room filled up there was a quick meeting informing everyone that they were being terminated: There was no mention of the possibility of being rehired in the future

The managers responsible for the layoffs said they had no detailed insights into the reason, and that they were just the messengers. It’s my understanding that layoffs were largely targeted at those who had previously received warnings, those with high sickness, and those who failed training courses in the past

Upon conclusion of these meetings, employees received letters outlining what the process of being terminated will look like:  There is a 30 day notice period for flight attendants, and 90 day notice period for pilots.  There is no right of appeal against the redundancy decision.

Since the company issues UAE work visas, there’s a 29 day “grace period” beyond the 90 day notice period, and by that time people have to leave the country.  For situations where employees can’t leave the country due to border closures, those visas can be extended.

Those who must remain in the country will continue to receive housing, and will receive 25% of their base salary.  Upon separation with the company, employees will receive any outstanding remuneration, the value of unused annual leave, and an end of service benefit.

Many employees at the company who still have jobs are getting a 50% pay cut of their basic salary between July 1 and September 30, 2020. For the past couple of months the company has reduced pay for many frontline employees by 25%, but now that amount is increasing.. For flight attendants the real pay cut is more than 50%.

The basic salary is being cut by 50%, but then flight attendants also ordinarily get paid for the hours that they fly. With most flight attendants flying very little (if at all), they’re also missing out on their flight pay. That means for many flight attendants the pay cut is more along the lines of 60%+, the report  confirmed.

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