Etihad scraps Airbus orders, cuts jobs

Dubai, UAE - Etihad Airways scrapped orders for Airbus SE jetliners and revealed plans to cut 50 pilot posts as the Gulf carrier seeks to slim down operations amid mounting losses.

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad canceled the purchase of ten A320neo jets, based on the latest monthly order figures from Airbus, while a letter to staff indicates that the flight-crew jobs, representing about 2.4 per cent of pilots, will be eliminated by the end of this month.

Thousands of positions have already gone as Etihad puts the brakes on a costly expansion bid to challenge Gulf rivals Emirates and Qatar Airways. Chief executive officer Tony Douglas said in July that more posts would be cut after almost US$3.5bn in losses over two years, and that jetliner orders were in doubt as he focused on local needs rather than carrying passengers between continents.

In the letter seen by Bloomberg, Sulaiman Yaqoobi, vice present for flight operations, tells staff the global economy is 'extremely challenging' and that Etihad must slash operating costs as much as ten per cent to reflect shrinking capacity.

The carrier, which is also scrapping marginal routes, still has one of the biggest fleet backlogs in global aviation, and the A320 cancellations don’t address orders for more than 100 A350s, Boeing Co 777s and 787s designed for long-haul flights.