Etihad axes ‘hundreds of jobs’ across business divisions to weather Covid-19 impact

UAE carrier Etihad Airways has cut hundreds of jobs this month, including that of cabin crew members, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing industry sources.

More job cuts were expected at the Abu Dhabi-based airline, the report added.

In a statement to Gulf Business, an Etihad spokesperson confirmed redundancies were made across several business divisions and added: “The coronavirus pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to businesses around the world, and Etihad is no exception. It is clear the demand for travel in the near future will be significantly reduced and as a result we must make difficult decisions to ensure Etihad will weather this storm.

“We are incredibly proud of our world-class workforce, however, we have had to make redundancies across several areas of our business to reflect current market conditions.”

Earlier this week, there were reports that Dubai airline Emirates was laying off 30,000 employees.

Read: Dubai’s Emirates says no announcement made on ‘mass redundancies’

However, an Emirates airline spokesperson subsequently added: “No announcement has been made regarding mass redundancies at the airline. Any such decision will be communicated in an appropriate fashion.”