In a big development Dubai based UAE airlines Emirates has apparently sacked 600 pilots and 700 members of cabin crew staff amidst the coronavirus pandemic. The UAE giant started reducing its workforce on May 31 when it had laid off 180 pilots. The airline plans to retire a large part of its fleet following the coronavirus outbreak that has brought the airline industry to a standstill, with countries around the world restricting movement of people. Around 40 of its 115 A380 aircraft will be put out of service as per a report published in moneycontrol.
“Given the significant impact that the pandemic has had on our business, we simply cannot sustain excess resources and have to right-size our workforce in line with our reduced operations,” said an Emirates spokesperson. The Dubai government has said it would support the airline to tide over the travel slump fuelled by the pandemic. Emirates in March announced temporary cuts of between 25 percent and 50 percent in basic salaries for most employees after the flight operations came to a standstill. The airline industry which is the most worst-affected by the pandemic is globally expected to lose $84.3 billion in 2020.