Middle Eastern airline Emirates is planning to cut up to
9,000 jobs across its business due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic,
according to its president Sir Tim Clark.
The carrier had confirmed last month that it would be
implementing a staff reduction plan but at the time did not disclose how many employees
would be affected. In an interview with the BBC last week, Clark
said the company had already cut a tenth of its staff but would “probably have
to let go of a few more, probably up to 15 per cent”.
Prior to the coronavirus shut-down, Emirates employed 60,000
people.
According to the BBC, at least 1,200 pilots have been given
redundancy notices since the start of the crisis, as well as thousands of cabin
crew. The cuts are mainly focused on Emirates’ Airbus aircraft rather than
Boeing because the latter planes are smaller and will be easier to fill while
passenger demand remains low.