Emirates airline layoffs continue for the second day

DUBAI: Emirates laid off more pilots and cabin crew on Wednesday in a second day of redundancies at one of the world’s biggest long-haul airlines, three company sources said.

An Emirates spokeswoman declined to comment beyond the airline’s statement on Tuesday that said some employees had been laid off. No further details were provided.

The Dubai-based carrier laid off hundreds of pilots and cabin crew on Tuesday in a bid to stave off a cash crunch caused by the coronavirus pandemic, sources told Reuters.

More redundancies were expected this week, including both Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 pilots, the sources said on Tuesday.

Those who lost their jobs were told their positions had been made redundant, the sources said.

Aviation is one of the industries worst hit by the fallout from the virus outbreak, with airlines around the world laying off staff and seeking government bailouts.

The state carrier had said in May a promise by the Dubai government to provide Emirates with new equity would allow it to “preserve its skilled workforce.”

Emirates has since said it could take it up to four years to resume flights to all 157 destinations it flew to before the pandemic.

The airline has operated limited, mostly outbound services from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since grounding passenger flights in March, but is due to restart some connecting flights this month after the UAE lifted a suspension.

Emirates Group, the state holding company that includes the airline, has also seen lay offs at its airport services company dnata.