The news comes after the airline company’s CEO stated that the airline will be “rehiring” laid off staff.
Qatar Airways has reportedly sent a letter to former pilots that were laid off last year to offer them the chance to reapply for vacancies as part of the airliner’s recent need to expand services.
The national carrier fired thousands of staff at the height of the pandemic last year due to stifling restrictions that struck the global travel sector.
But a letter sent to the former employees said the airline is “now looking to restart recruitment activities to adequately resource our Boeing operations, and would like to invite you to re-join the airline at the earliest opportunity,” Sky News reported.
The flag carrier sent the letter to “Boeing 777 and 787-trained pilots” who were part of the 15% of staff dismissed since the outbreak, the report added.
“A member of the Pilot Recruitment and Selection team will be in touch with you shortly to discuss your current availability …and the re-joining process,” the letter read.
In a statement to Doha News, Qatar Airways confirmed new opportunities have been presented in recent weeks.
“As Qatar Airways continues to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic and its significant impact on the international commercial aviation industry, the airline has steadily rebuilt its global network to 130 destinations, with the reinstatement of many more routes planned over the coming months,” a spokesperson from the airline company told Doha News.
The spokesperson added that the restoration of flights “has led to a number of opportunities arising within our Boeing fleet operations which are being extended to eligible former Qatar Airways Flight Crew as a priority at this time”.
“We will continue to review our operational and resourcing requirements on a regular basis, as market conditions evolve,” they said.
Earlier this month, Qatar Airways chief executive, Akbar Al Baker said though more cuts are expected at the airline in the upcoming months, a gradual recovery is expected.
In a televised interview with Qatar TV, Al Baker said would open up the opportunity for former employees to be rehired
Read also: Qatar Airways: more cuts expected, but we will hire again
In the same interview, he said the company laid off more than 11,000 employees due to challenges that came with the global health crisis and expects “several thousand more employees” to also be laid off.
“Every single airline has laid off people in very large numbers because large amounts of the fleet has been grounded. When you look at [it] proportionality on Qatar Airways, we have done the minimum reduction,” al-Baker said in the interview. “We have done a reduction of 15%, which will go up to 20%,” he added.
“We will re-recruit people that we laid off…we will give the people that we laid off due to the pandemic the first priority when we start re-recruiting employees to serve this increased network of Qatar Airways,” he said.
Currently, Qatar Airways is operating nearly 80% of its fleet despite Covid-19, with the airline expanding its destinations periodically.
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