Middle East's Largest Emirates Airline Considers Cutting 30,000 Jobs

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Emirates Airlines, the largest airline in the Middle East, is reportedly considering cutting 30,000 employees due to decreased demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bloomberg News reported on the 18th (local time), citing sources, that Emirates Airlines, owned by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government, is considering reducing up to 30%, or more than 30,000, of its approximately 105,000 employees to cut costs and reorganize operations in response to the prolonged downturn in the travel industry expected to last several years. Bloomberg stated that if this plan is implemented, it would be the largest airline workforce reduction since the COVID-19 outbreak.

Earlier, on the 11th, Sheikh Ahmed, Chairman of Emirates Airlines, released a statement saying, "The COVID-19 pandemic will severely impact performance this year and next year," and added, "It will take at least 18 months for travel demand to return to normal, and we will aggressively implement cost management measures to protect the business." Emirates Airlines is also reportedly considering early retirement of the superjumbo A380 aircraft along with the workforce reduction.

As the aviation industry faces a crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many international airlines besides Emirates are announcing workforce reduction plans one after another. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), about 70% of the world's air transport capacity is idle, and airplane ticket sales are expected to decrease by $314 billion (approximately 385 trillion won) this year. Last month, British Airways in the UK announced plans to lay off about 12,000 employees, and major US airlines are also reportedly taking measures such as voluntary leave, reduced working hours, and early retirement affecting more than 100,000 employees.

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