Qatar Airways to slash pilots' salaries

Qatar Airways will slash some pilots' salaries and make others redundant to offset the revenue collapse caused by the novel coronavirus travel crisis, it said in a memo Monday. The Gulf airline, which flew to more than 170 destinations with 234 aircraft as of March, has been hit by airport closures and travel bans imposed to contain the spread of the COVID-19 disease. Qatar Airways' most senior pilots "will be subjected to a 25% reduction" in salaries, chief flight operations officer Jassim al-Haroon wrote to pilots in a memo dated Jun 4. "In the upcoming weeks many of our captains, senior first officers, first officers and cadet pilots will be made redundant," Haroon wrote, without specifying how many would be let go. More junior pilots will face an immediate 15% cut to their salaries, although the measures will not be applied to the airline's Qatari pilots, the memo added. The airline warned cabin crew at the start of May that they faced "substantial" job losses. "It's very gloomy. Communication hasn't been clear - we don't know if this will be the last reduction or if there will be more," said one pilot, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity. "Without a union, they can do what they want to our contracts."<br/>