Oman Air (WY, Muscat) has laid off around 1,000 employees in an effort to cut costs and bring its workforce to the levels of similarly-sized airlines. Chairman Saeed bin Hamoud Al Maawali said during a media event that Oman Air had 4,300 employees before restructuring and that the figure should be reduced to 2,700, the Muscat-based news portal The Arabian Stories reported.
Half of those dismissed from the company were foreign citizens. On April 19, Oman Air announced it had sacked 487 expatriates in the previous 18 months, with some being replaced by local workers.
With these departures, the airline increased its so-called "Omanisation rate", the share of Omani nationals in the total workforce, to 79.4 %, up from 74.8% in 2023.
Al Maawali revealed that 45% of the carrier's staff previously consisted of “assignment employees” - workers who were not directly involved in essential operational procedures. He added that the ratio for peer airlines was around 15%.
Oman Air is currently restructuring its network, operations, and workforce. According to the ch-aviation fleets module, it currently operates fifteen B737-8s, five B737-800s, one B737-800(BCF), four B737-900ERs, one B787-8, and seven B787-9s. It also has four inactive A330-200s and three inactive A330-300s awaiting phase-out.
