Emirates airline needs to hire 20,000 "operational staff", from pilots to engineers, over the next five years, coinciding with an aggressive jet delivery schedule and high travel demand across the network, its deputy president said.
The roles will include cabin crew, pilots, engineers, technicians and airport staff, Adel Al Redha, who is also the chief operations officer of Emirates airline, told reporters on Wednesday.
The recruitment drive is being fuelled by a brisk pace of Airbus A350-900 wide-body aircraft deliveries, the introduction of new destinations and the addition of flight frequencies on existing routes.
"We continue to hire to our needs, we have a very aggressive plan of aircraft deliveries through this calendar year, we expect to receive 17 or 18 additional A350 aircraft. They will be deployed to new destinations or extra frequencies," he said.
"With that our recruitment plan, especially for operational [roles] continues. We expect from now until the end of this decade ... we will need to recruit close to about 20,000 operational staff."
Emirates has marked up its requirement in terms of opening new destinations, opening additional frequencies and receiving new aircraft and "what we need to recruit for the next five years", Mr Al Redha added.
The Dubai-based airline is also returning more of its Airbus A380 double-deckers to service, after their grounding during the Covid-19 pandemic. Of the total fleet of 116 superjumbos, six remain grounded, Mr Al Redha said. Three of these six aircraft will return to the skies this year, while the remaining three require maintenance pending the availability of hangars, he added.
Emirates airline has a total workforce of 54,619 employees in the UAE and global outstations, up from 49,997 in the prior year, according to its 2024-25 annual report, and is one of the biggest employers in Dubai.
The global commercial aviation industry will require 660,000 new pilots, 710,000 new maintenance technicians, and 1,000,000 new cabin crew members to fly and maintain the commercial aircraft fleet over the next 20 years, according to Boeing's 2025-2044 outlook.
Despite a global shortage of aviation workers, Mr Al Redha said Emirates is not facing difficulties in recruiting new employees as the UAE is a magnet for global talent.
"I keep hearing this story but I don't experience it in Emirates," he said. "There are no difficulties in securing and recruiting for these jobs so far. We are lucky to be in the UAE and in Dubai. This city offers a lot for the candidates. It offers them security, confidence, a good lifestyle ... you don't see a big resistance from an expat applying for any of these roles to move to Dubai."
US-Iran tension
Travel demand to and from Dubai and across the airline's international network remains strong, according to the executive.
So far, that appetite for flying has been unaffected by the simmering tension between Iran and the US that has caused some international airlines to re-route or cancel their flights to the Middle East.
"It's very difficult for us to predict any income but so far we have seen the demand in our operations is as expected and as normal," Mr Al Redha said.
"We haven't seen any changes to that," he said, adding that all Emirates flights are operating according to schedule.
Demand for flights to and from Dubai is increasing for both leisure and business travel, prompting the airline to continue investing in its human capital and products ranging from onboard Wi-Fi to lounges, he said.
Starlink installation progress
Emirates has made progress with installation of SpaceX's Starlink that will equip its wide-body jets with superfast free Wi-Fi in all cabins.
Since announcing the deal with Starlink in November, Emirates has completed the installation on 10 of its Boeing 777s so far and passenger feedback has been positive, Mr Al Redha said.
By the end of this year, Emirates would have 150 of its 777s and A380s fitted with Starlink services, he added. Mr Al Redha declined to reveal the cost and said the fuel drag from the antennas is "negligible".
The world's biggest international airline, which has a range of premium offerings, continues to invest heavily in its on-board products, adding to signature offerings like the A380 on-board lounge and first-class shower.
Boeing 777X engines issues
Emirates, which is the biggest customer of the Boeing 777X, expects to take delivery of the long-delayed aircraft by June 2027, Mr Al Redha said.
Boeing discovered a "potential durability issue" on the GE engines powering its new wide-body 777X, and is working with the engine maker to fix it, the US plane maker's chief executive Kelly Ortberg said during a conference call on Tuesday, adding that he does not expect it to delay deliveries in 2027, Reuters reported.
Asked about the impact of the engine issue on Emirates, Mr Al Redha said the findings are "not going to impact" the announced delivery date. "We still need to see the GE, Boeing and the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] plan on how to address these findings. There will be further detailed discussions to better understand the scope of the work to be done because these kind of issues must be addressed before completing the certification and before taking delivery of the aircraft."
Asked if Emirates is confident about the programme after the engine findings, Mr Al Redha said that flight tests are the right stage to detect such problems and fix them, but this depends on the scope and timeline of the fixes.
"The whole objective of these flight tests is to identify this type of issue during the manufacturing phase, before the delivering the aircraft ... and that is the purpose of the certification programme," he said. "It depends on the extent and the nature of fixing the issues, whether its replacement of parts or redesign the systems, that will determine how the certification programme will be impacted."
The airline's growth plans have been clipped by the seven-year delay in the 777X programme, leading it to invest $5 billion in a programme to retrofit its existing 777s and A380s to keep them flying for longer.
