Etihad Airways informed cabin crew that due to slow recovery in air travel demand, there would be more layoffs in November 2020.
On November 11, 2020, an internal email seen by Reuters indicated that Etihad cabin crew would be notified about the dismissals within 24 hours. A company source said that preliminary about 1,000 cabin crew layoffs are expected. However the exact number of job cuts was not mentioned. Cabin managers and senior staff are also going to be dismissed.
Earlier in 2020, the airline already took tough measures to slash costs by cutting jobs and salaries. Several executives have left the company, including Etihad Airways’ Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) Robin Kamarak, senior Vice President of Sales & Distribution Duncan Bureau, Chief Transformation Officer (CTO) Akram Alami and Chief Risk & Compliance Officer Mutaz Saleh. The executives who stayed have taken the obligations of the departed leaders.
Etihad had been fighting economical losses since 2015. Since then, Etihad was suffering economic losses, its first non-billion net loss was announced in 2019 when the company ended the year with an $870 million loss.
The current round of restructuring will result in Etihad Airways becoming a mid-sized, full-service carrier. “After our best-ever Q1 performance, none of us could have predicted the challenges that lay ahead in the remainder of this year,” commented Etihad Airways chief executive Tony Douglas on the COVID-19 pandemics influence earlier in November 2020.
“That is why we are taking definitive and decisive action to adjust our business and position ourselves proudly as a mid-sized carrier,” Douglas continued.