Etihad Airways has reportedly decided to prolong salary cuts for its staff until the end of 2020. Meanwhile, Emirates airline announced that full employee salaries would come back in October of the same year.
Etihad’s wage reduction was softened down and capped at 10% from a previous 25-50%, the airline’s representative told the Khaleej Times on September 7, 2020. The Gulf carrier has also reintroduced staff allowances alongside the renewed salary structure, which came into effect from September 1, 2020.
A day prior to Etihad Airways announcement, the airline’s competitor Emirates had the opposite news, stating it would be paying its employees in full starting from October 2020.
Both Etihad Airways and Emirates first announced the company-wide salary cuts on April 1, 2020. The temporary reductions were set to end by July 2020, but both Gulf carriers had decided to extend them until September.
While the stark contrast between the announcements may paint Etihad in a worse light, Emirates previously had shrunk its workforce considerably, allowing the company to save on wage expenses. The staff cut by Emirates was significantly larger than a few hundred layoffs Etihad tanked back in May 2020.