April Roster – Cancelled?!

So I originally wrote this post around a week or so ago… in the meantime Emirates has announced that all flights are suspended, the UAE government has shut down the airports, and we will be taking a salary cut for the next 3 months minimum. These are certainly crazy and unprecedented times, and I feel lucky to still have a job.

I know of so many airlines that have paused or ceased operations completely, and with most of the world on lockdown the travel industry has certainly taken a big hit.

When I wrote this I still had all my flights on the roster, but day by day they disappeared and I was left with “available days”. As of March right now half of these destinations are ones that we’ve temporarily stopped flying to. I’m certain this will take longer than we all think, but we can be hopeful that perhaps there will be some flights rescheduled at some point in April.

So this is what my roster looked like when I got it a couple of weeks ago…. as of now I have none of those flights left!

  • BRU – Brussels, Belgium
  • WAW – Warsaw, Poland 
  • RUH – Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (turnaround)
  • MUC – Munich, Germany
  • DAC – Dhaka, Bangladesh
  • BAH – Bahrain, Bahrain (turnaround)
  • BOM – Bombay, India (turnaround)
  • ATH – EWR – Athens, Greece & Newark, USA

I was actually quite looking forward to some of these trips – in particular the Athens Newark multi-sector which I’ve never done before. That was one of the first ones to go from my roster, sadly.

I was also supposed to have a trip to JFK at the end of March but that disappeared as well, and right now I’m home on quarantine. According to the UAE law we have to observe 14 days of quarantine after arriving from our last operating flight, that means not even leaving to go to the supermarket or out for exercise. 

I’m trying to make the most of it and have been trying to do a daily workout from YouTube (although feel free to send any good workouts my way!), experimenting with cooking new recipes, and of course, plenty of Netflix!

In the meantime we can do nothing but stay strong, and hope that we will get our wings back soon and come back better than ever. 

P.s. Follow me on InstagramFacebook & Twitter for more day-to-day updates of where I am in the world! 🙂

10 Comments

  1. Asher
    July 25, 2020 / 6:41 am

    Hi Rachel! Hope you are doing well! Haven’t heard from you in a while, are you still in Dubai or have you left for England? I have heard that Emirates is furloughing flight attendants in large numbers or keeping them in Dubai tentatively for less than 50% of their pay? Hope you are still with the Company given that you are a hard working flight attendant much liked by your superiors.
    I read that flight attendants that had a sketchy work record are being let go…..the chickens are finally coming back to roost!! There are many flight attendants that obviously do not take their jobs seriously, they many be at risk right now with Emirates. Please do take care and let us know how you have been doing and dealing with this terrible Corona Pandemic! My very best to you and the rest of the Emirates flight crew!!

    • thedubaidiaries
      Author
      July 27, 2020 / 12:08 pm

      Hi Asher! Still in Dubai, at the moment still very fortunate to have a job. Sadly many of my friends and colleagues were made redundant, we don’t have furlough here – it was straight to redundancies. Around 30% of the company I believe although no exact numbers have been given, this includes cabin crew, pilots, and all other positions. Very sad times for all, especially as many people who made one mistake (such as accidentally missing a flight once or forgetting their passport) got a warning and were subsequently made redundant because of it!

      • Mari
        July 28, 2020 / 6:39 pm

        Wonderful that your job is still safe. It is always a plus to have a clean record. Unfortunately a very good friend of mine who is a Chief Training pilot on the A380’s has lost his job, and has to wait in DXB until October to be repatriated to Melbourne. And having said that after 18 years of dedicating his and his family life to Emirates. Good luck, and wish you healty flying hours with EK. We can’t wait for our borders on South Africa to open to be able to travel again.

  2. Mari
    March 29, 2020 / 10:07 pm

    You are in our prayers. Sending you positive love from Yzerfontein in South Africa for a healthy forced rest period. We are on 3 week lockdown until 16 April, but I foresee it might take longer. I have a friend who is a training pilot for A380’s with Emirates who has a home here in my hometown. He and his family is also in quarantine in DXB. All the best and hopefully see you soon in the skies.

    • thedubaidiaries
      Author
      April 22, 2020 / 1:48 pm

      Thank you Mari! Are you still on lockdown in South Africa? It’s become even more strict in Dubai – we can only go out with a permit, once every 3 days, for max. 3 hours at a time. Such crazy times we are living in! Hope you are ok!

      • Mari
        April 24, 2020 / 10:54 am

        Yes we are still under lockdown until 30April. Then they will fase a less stricter lockdown. Happyfor you that your lockdown has been made slightly better. Stay healthy and we the wold would heal. Read in the media EK will only resume flts from July except reapatriation flights

  3. Asher
    March 27, 2020 / 6:07 pm

    Has Emirates given you an approximate date when you can get your wings back? Are they looking to permanently furlough flight attendants due to the Corona Virus cancellations? It is terrible news given that thousands of young men and women so desperatelyt want to join Emirates and are willing to go to great lengths to get in. My best wishes and prayers for you all. Hope you are up in the air soon.

    • thedubaidiaries
      Author
      April 22, 2020 / 1:46 pm

      Nothing so far. I’m rostered for a repatriation flight at the end of this month but we don’t have a roster for May yet and it seems flights might not resume til July….crazy! Fingers crossed things will be ok soon, but who knows.

  4. Lisa
    March 27, 2020 / 12:15 pm

    How do you get food if you cannot leave your house? Currently on lockdown in New Zealand but we are allowed to the supermarket when necessary. Praying for the aviation industry from a fellow flight attendant x

    • thedubaidiaries
      Author
      March 27, 2020 / 12:33 pm

      Luckily my last layover was in the UK so I was able to go to the supermarket there and do a big shop to bring back with me, once that all runs out everywhere delivers in Dubai (including supermarkets) so I’ll be able to get deliveries! After the 14 days I’ll be able to go out to the supermarket and also for a run/exercise! Lots of love xx

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