Emirates conducting ‘thorough review of costs’ as speculation grows over A380 future

The airline which is the world’s largest operator of the A380 is gradually resuming passenger flights after grounding its 115 fleet of the double deck planes on March 25 in line with Covid-19 travel restrictions.

“No announcement has been made regarding mass redundancies at the airline. Any such decision will be communicated in an appropriate fashion. Like any responsible business would do, our executive team has directed all departments to conduct a thorough review of costs and resourcing against business projections, even as we prepare for gradual service resumption.

“As our Chairman has said, conserving cash, safeguarding our business, and preserving as much of as our skilled workforce as possible, remain our top priorities through this period,” the airline said in its statement.

Bloomberg on Sunday reported the airline is looking to cut 30,000 jobs, which represent 30% of its entire workforce, reducing employees from more than 105,000 by the end of March. Speculation is also mounting that the airline could permanently decommission 40% of its A380 fleet, with 46 of its aircraft never to fly passengers again. 

Sources also told Arabian Business the airline is considering laying off the majority of its A380 pilots, maintaining only 20 of its superjumbo fleet, to focus on the Boeing 777s instead.

Emirates had announced last year it would gradually retire its A380 fleet after cancelling does of orders. Airbus then declared it will stop production of the aircraft in 2021.

The news comes two weeks after its President Sir Tim Clark told The National newspaper “the A380 is over” and that the airline would be 20-30 percent smaller as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.