Emirates Cancels Almost All Flights, Cuts Wages

Emirates, one of the world’s largest carriers, announced it is cancelling almost all passenger flights due to the coronavirus impact on travel demand. Nearly all of its planned international flights are cancelled, except for repatriation flights requested from governments.

Emirates was contemplating cancelling all flights and grounding the entire fleet after being pressured from governments. Many people around the world are trapped in different countries amid national lockdowns and border closures, as their governments are trying to get them back home.

In order to avoid cutting jobs, Emirates said it has to cut wages for the majority of its staff from 25% to 50%, while President Tim Clark and Gary Chapman president of the holding group’s airport and travel services company will waive their three-month salary.

Emirates, which employs around 100,000 people around the world, has also encouraged staff to take paid or unpaid leave as it tries to navigate through one of the worst financial hits for the carriers in history.

This news doesn’t come as a surprise given the almost non-existent demand for air travel globally. The largest carrier in the world, Delta Air Lines, announced earlier it is cutting 90% of its international services scheduled for April.