Emirates offers staff up to 6 months unpaid leave

by Rob Morris   on Thursday, 02 April 2009

Emirates Airline confirmed on Thursday it will offer cabin crew unpaid leave from next month.

The Dubai airline said in a statement that the option, which comes into effect on May 1, was on a “purely voluntary basis”.

It added a drop in the number of cabin crew leaving Emirates through natural attrition had led to the voluntary leave offer.

“In anticipation of our growing fleet, Emirates' recruitment efforts over the past 12 months have been highly successful in meeting our operational requirements,” an Emirates spokesperson said.

“Combined with a sharp drop in cabin crew attrition, we now find ourselves in a position to be more flexible as an employer.”

The airline also said there were limited unpaid leave slots available, depending on seniority and the aircraft type the crew works on.

“Cabin crew may opt for unpaid leave from a period of one month, up to a maximum of six months,” the spokesperson said.

“While on leave, they will still be employees of the airline, and continue to be eligible for various benefits including paid accommodation and travel concessions.

“Emirates will continue to review our operational requirements closely, and staff going on unpaid leave are fully aware that they can be recalled for duty at one week's notice."

The airline has some 12,000 cabin crew and 124 passenger planes.

It is understood Emirates is the first airline in this region to offer unpaid leave amid an economic downturn that has hit the global aviation industry.

This year, Middle East airlines are expected to post $900m losses – up from the International Air Transport Association’s $800m original forecast in 2008.

Meanwhile, IATA said the global airline industry will lose $4.7bn during the same period.

Passenger traffic in the Middle East climbed 0.4 percent in February, although this will likely be offset by increased capacity among local airline.

文章來源:
ArabianBusiness.Com
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/551431-emirates-offers-staff-up-to-6-months-unpaid-leave

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這篇文章底下有幾則留言還挺有趣的。

終於，許多人千呼萬盼的---公司提供無薪假啦!!! 想申請的四月底前要送出申請書。

本來我是興趣缺缺，因為光是想到少賺一個月的薪水，眉頭就不禁皺起來。

可是前天在台北往首爾的國泰機上雜誌又看到關於雲南麗江的報導，唉唷，這個本來前年想要去旅行卻因故作罷的地方(說到這個也是有淵源的，改天再寫)，不放個一個月的假，哪能玩得盡興呢! 而昨天回來後，翻開樓下守衛給我的7days報紙，裡面一整篇幅介紹埃及旅遊，唉唷，又是我一直想去的地方!!

莫非，這是老天爺給我的暗示?

都快飛了五年啦，有些想去走走的地方卻苦於年假不夠長而始終尚未成行。

雲南麗江、浙江烏鎮、北越、加拿大看北極熊、埃及、祕魯...........

唉唷，再寫下去我大概需要一年的無薪假啦!