With record profit comes record profit sharing for Emirates employees, a move that is certain to improve morale and cement loyalty at the Dubai-based airline.
Emirates Offers Employees Unprecedented Profit-Sharing Bonus
It has been a rough few years for Emirates and the airline industry, but with a return to profit Emirates is sharing some of the pie with an unprecedented profit-sharing payment to its more than 100,000 employees.
Last week Emirates reported a profit of $2.9 billion for the previous fiscal year. In the past, Emirates has offered a profit-sharing to employees at its own discretion. The last such occurrence was in 2018. But with record profit in 2022, Emirates has announced every employee will receive the equivalence of 24 weeks of basic pay. That’s right, it is like boosting up your salary by 50%…all with the sweep of a pen.
As an added bonus, income is tax-free in Dubai.
Here in the USA, Delta Air Lines is most generous when it comes to profit-sharing. It pledges to employees 10% of its first $2.5 billion in annual profits then 20% of annual profits beyond that.
Emirates Gets It.
There’s an interesting dynamic at play here.
As a consumer, I could gripe that Emirates is taking profit that should be used to invest in its woefully outdated product (amazingly, most business class seats on the 777 are not lie-flat). Stockholders (the Dubai government) might lament that it was not rewarded with a generous dividend for weathering out the pandemic itself.
But Emirates’ identity and mystique is rooted in its employees. You will never hear “we are primality here for your safety” from an Emirates flight attendant. That’s not the Emirates model. But more than robotic Barbie dolls, flight attendants at Emirates provide the sort of well-executed, polished service that makes so many flyers loyal (and to be clear, there are some bad apples who work for Emirates as well).
Thus, taking care of employees (and ground staff too, which makes the whole operation run) can be seen as the sort of investment in human capital that will lead to more profits down the line. People are willing to pay a premium for Emirates because they know they can expect warm, caring, and compassionate service onboard.
CONCLUSION
Emirates employees are in for a huge treat; the equivalent of a 50% bump in base pay. After a profitable year, Emirates is sharing the wealth and employees will be the beneficiaries after years of no bonuses or pay raises. I’m excited for Emirates employees today and appreciate the business class for this lavish bonus.
image: Emirates // H/T: One Mile At A Time
Don’t you mean to say “primarily here for your safety”?
Correct!
Shareholders? You mean the Dubai Government?
Exactly.
“amazingly, most business class seats on the 777 are not lie-flat”
TBH, the bigger issue for me isn’t that their seats on the 777 are lie flat or not, it’s that they are all in a 2-3-2 configuration.
“But Emirates’ identity and mystique is rooted in its employees”
Is it? I always felt it was the over the top bling factor.
The gaudy gold? Maybe. I always thought it was the flight crews.
I thought it was the service too. I’ve flown F and coach, it was brilliant service (and good food) on both, but I guess someone who hasn’t flown EK and/or doesn’t travel wouldn’t really know
Lol. The TDS and mad cow has taken a toll on dear Aron.
Poor Aron. I will be praying for him as much as I will be praying for you.
You pray now? Okay, progress. I guess I would too if I got seventeen boosters.
I wouldn’t know about the boosters you are referring to, but some of us have been praying all our lives.
You’re still in my prayers, hopefully we can pray the vile hate out of you one day.
https://i.postimg.cc/Px4yncLH/61quq-RNUdl-L-AC-SL1500.jpg
Ah, so you’re pissed that I’m not pro plague like you are lol
Nah, some of us just found service on other airlines to better (Qatar, Singapore) and that those airlines have a better reputation for service, but I guess someone who hasn’t flown on a variety of airlines wouldn’t really know.
Jan > Aaron when it comes to airline and aviation knowledge–clearly
Sure, Jan lol
I really really hate to pile on mostly useless grammatical corrections, but I chuckled at “tax-fee”
I’d like to fly EK again but the Skywards devaluations over the past year have been rough. Europe TATL 5th freedoms aren’t bad but I have a lot more choices there. It’s fun to fly on an airline that is clearly a step above US and most EU carriers.
the blatant errors in every article daily from many writers in this field just screams “hey we have a spelling error in our story—proof we don’t use ChatGPT”
“But Emirates’ identity and mystique is rooted in its employees”
Fixed it:
But Emirates’ identity and mystique is rooted in its employee’s appearances. Maybe it’s easier to justify/rationalize arguably discriminatory/misogynistic corporate attitudes, behavior and policies when they’re giving (nearly) 50% bump in base pay.
Is it really such a bad thing to have strict uniform and grooming standards?
When I was there they treated their Cabin Crew quite harshly, with a very punitive and tattle tale culture. It was hard enough being a pilot there…. All that glitters is not gold! They deserve a years worth of bonus for as hard as they work!
Re: “Is it really such a bad thing to have strict uniform and grooming standards?” Depends on the definition of “a bad thing”. I happen to like it, I like viewing attractive people who are female, some others consider it to be discriminatory and misogynistic. Emirates is based in the UAE, those same strict uniform and grooming standards are unlikely to be legally acceptable in the USA.
As long as the goals are clearly stated and reasonably attainable, profit sharing is an excellent motivator for employees, especially those in the middle and lower ranks.