This archive report was first published on 10 June 2020.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the global economy, Emirates, one of the world's largest airlines, has been forced to lay off hundreds of pilots and thousands of cabin crew members.
According to sources, the airline has laid off hundreds of pilots and thousands of cabin crew members, with more job cuts planned in the coming weeks.
Emirates has a workforce of 4,300 pilots and nearly 22,000 cabin crew members, but this number could shrink by almost a third from its pre-coronavirus levels, according to sources.
Despite a promise by the Dubai government to provide Emirates with new equity, the airline has continued to lay off employees, including trainee pilots and cabin crew.
Outgoing President Tim Clark has said it could take four years for the airline to resume flying to all of the 157 international destinations it served before the pandemic.
Emirates has operated limited, mostly outbound services from the United Arab Emirates since grounding passenger flights in March but is due to restart some connecting flights after the UAE last week lifted a suspension.
Emirates has also extended pay cuts until September, and in some cases deepened the reduction to 50 per cent, according to an internal email on Sunday.
