Leadership at Emirates Airline

Introduction

The role of leadership and good governance impacts the business models developed and implemented by organizations. Aspects that include competitive advantage, low-turnover rates, higher profit margins, and consistency with the internal corporate cultural base advance the organization toward fulfilled objectives. While nations boost their global image through partnerships and effective strategies with the airline industry, a network of engaged stakeholders begins by evaluating the leadership and management of the airlines and related sectors. In this people, exploration of the background of Emirates Airline is prioritized to propel adequate conceptualization of the leadership challenges it experiences. Moreover, the leadership styles and anticipated behavioral ideals of followers are further evaluated. Because leadership holds the organization together, the elements comprising the dos and don’ts are also given by the primary data collection approach (interviews). Emirates Airlines is a global chain of airlines that serves millions of customers in more than 80 countries globally (Emirates Group, n.d). For a company that has existed for the last 38 years, Emirates Airlines is an ideal organization for empirical analysis of leadership and management approaches and associated impacts in the airline business. The research found that many challenges affecting the leadership of Emirates Airlines are due to differentiated organizational structures and cultures affecting multiple levels of business operations. The leadership styles also adopted in airline operations work for the interest of the airline more than the people, such as the employees. However, agile leadership directions, such as periodic training of employees, change the environmental and social governance issues affecting the airline. In summary, the research found that the leadership of the airline invests in employees for anticipated positive outcomes in performance, profits, and market segmentation.

Background of Emirates Airline

The fall of one organization often informs the entrance of another. Emirates Airlines was born from the cutbacks in the operations of Gulf Air in Dubai in the early 1980s (Emirates Group, n.d). The government of Dubai in 1985 gave the airline a clean bill of health to begin operations in regions around the Gulf and, subsequently, in India (Shastri, 2023). The growth of the airline has steadily risen to have more than 80 destinations and services for millions of regional and international customers (Shastri, 2023; Emirates Group, n.d). When the airline joined the flagship leadership of the Emirates Group, it remained operating singly without the influence of foreign alliances like common practice among the competitive rivals. The Emirates Group is arguably the largest in the Middle East, making Emirates Airlines a global leader in airline agility, pricing, business modeling, and operations. Emirates Group consolidates airport, hospitality, and transport services and regulates Dubai National Air Transport Association. Under the leadership of Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum as the current president and chief executive officer of Emirates Airlines, the company has made strides in expanding from stable internal management to business practices that have created wealth as part of the return on investment. In the last quarter of the 2022 financial year, the company revenue rose 128% to US$15.3 billion (Emirates Groups, n.d). The company made US$1.2 billion in profits from the losses from the previous years, which stood at US$1.6 billion (Emirates Groups, n.d). Contextually, the airline made immense profits from its leadership models and business strategies. Consequently, remarkable financial statements form critical indicators of the future health of the airline.

Emirates Airlines serve diverse markets culminating into six continents. It is responsible for more than forty percent of airlines that leave Dubai weekly. As such, the airline serves slightly more than 3500 weekly flights (Shastri, 2023). It also uses a static pricing approach to appeal to different customers across all its destinations (Shastri, 2023). Static pricing is a model airlines use in the aviation industry to create fares determined by price point destinations. The latter correlates with making prices depend on demand and customer segmentation. Ideally, Emirates Airlines use customer class classifications to determine passengers qualifying for Diamond First Class, Pearl Business Class, and Coral Economy Class (Shastri, 2023; Altexsoft, 2021). These classifications are used to inform the airline about the ability of customers to have market-oriented diversities. They inform part of the business matrix that the leadership of the airline uses to remain viable and sustainable over the years. To understand the operations of the airline that make it exemplary in regional and global aviation services, the re utilizes interviews with employees and secondary research to interpret the leadership framework of the organization, as exploited in the subsequent sections.

Problem Statement

The government of the United Arab Emirates uses a monarchical system. A regional governance system influences leadership structures and approaches utilized in corporations (Almuzaiqer, Fatima & Ahmad, 2022). Emirates Airlines is owned by the government, meaning that the royal family influences the majority of the leaders and the decisions affecting the airline. In this case, it becomes concerning whether business decisions, strategies, and impacts in leadership are at par with aviation market standards. Moreover, because Dubai is an international tourism, hospitality, and sociocultural hub, the intrigues these facets play on the leadership of Emirates Airlines are worth noting if internal business operations are to go by the magnitude of success the airline has had since its inception (Kelly, 2020). Therefore, this paper determines the leadership challenges the airline experiences. It also evaluates the leadership approaches the airline uses to counter the increased demands the sociocultural and political factors put up against it. As a multinational corporation with thousands of employees, determination of the leading factors, as captured empirically from the senior executive, draws the line for success and challenges the organization has faced, faced, and will face.

Analysis of the external and internal factors demonstrates that Emirates Airlines experiences more external problems than internal ones. However, because the consistency of the company is driven by internal leadership frameworks that promote effective internal operations, focusing extensively on internal challenges helps address the problem of this research. According to credible data, Emirates Group uses organizational culture that facilitates employee loyalty, training, and skills enhancement to be ahead of the challenges that could derail it from goal attainment (Emirates Aviation University, n.d; Al Saed, Upadhya & Saleh, 2020). On the one hand, the airline has maintained most elderly employees that started with the company. At the same time, on the other, it has experienced low-turnover rates amidst conflicting operational standards for junior-level ground employees (The Emirates Group, n.d). Moreover, studies illustrate that the company has been instrumental in championing staff engagement through subsidiary services by the parent company Dubai National Air Travel Agency (dnata), contrary to the experiences of ground operations workers (Qasim, 2020). While the parent company deals with maintenance of the aircraft, hospitality segment, and regional relations with other airlines and regulatory agencies, secondary sources reveal that the airline faces standoffs with aviation authorities of other countries due to issues of regulations and disagreements in compliance issues (Turak, 2022; Momoh, 2022). To get to the roots of the internal and external leadership challenges in the airline, interviewing the Chief Commercial Officer of Emirates Airlines, Mr. Kazim Gupta, not his real name, provides elaborating insights. Additionally, the researchers interview 27 others to gain corroborative insights about the leadership of the airline.

Research Objectives

1. To identify the significant problems faced by the leadership of Emirates Airlines.
2. To evaluate the leadership style used by the management of Emirates Airlines.

• To establish the organizational culture that stipulates the behaviors expected from the staff of Emirates Airlines.

1. To identify the stipulations defining what to do and not do as part of the leadership of Emirates Airlines.

Research Questions

1. What are the significant leadership challenges faced by Emirates Airlines?
2. Which leadership style does Emirates Airlines use?

• What organizational culture stipulates the behaviors expected from the staff of Emirates Airlines?

1. Which stipulations define what to do and not do as part of the leadership of Emirates Airlines?

Methodology

This section describes the methods used for a theoretical framework, research design, sample selection approaches, data collection, data analysis, validity, reliability, and limitation. It provides the background on how data collected was arrived at while also emphasizing the validity concerns for the rest of the paper.

Theoretical Framework

Theorization of good leadership accounts for the issues around the context, behaviors, and needs of the industry. Contingency theory is the ideal descriptive benchmark for leaders in the airline industry. The theory posits that situational contexts are approached using multiple leadership approaches, integrating the needs of the people (customers and employees), behaviors, and event patterns that determine different actions and strategies to make all decisions worthy of count (Jibirin Salihu, 2019). The theory wraps the seasonality of leadership situations and argues the qualities of leaders from the outcomes of their decisions. Unlike theories that summarize distinct leadership styles, contingency theory applies all of them in diverse situations (Jibirin Salihu, 2019). According to aviation trends, the current operations of Emirates Airlines experience changes emanating from technology, people’s need for operational strategy dilemmas (Hobby, 2018). All these situations provide impeccable instances for examining the future of the organization, the effectiveness of organizational culture, and the expectations the leaders have on their staff as aligned with the objectives of this paper. Therefore, contingency leadership theory is the framework for data analysis in the paper.

Research Design

The paper adopts a qualitative research design to adopt a rich understanding of the leadership situation at Emirates Airlines. Emirates Airlines is among the greatest and long-term carriers globally. It is also known for its sponsorship programs to international football clubs, actors, and actresses (Emirates Group, n.d). For a company with such reputable precedence, data collected requires reliable methods and approaches for analysis for replicable and generalizable conclusions. Qualitative research design subjectively interrogates phenomena identified for studies (Muzari, Shava & Shonhiwa, 2022). The internal leadership of emirates airlines affects its external business models and strategies. Therefore, the design contributes to the detailed interpretation of findings.

Sample Selection

The researchers selected participants using a purposive sampling technique. It is a type of qualitative sampling that promotes rigor as the identified groups bear the majority of the desired characteristics, as described by Muzari Shava & Shonhiwa (2022) and Campbell et al. (2020). It considers characteristics such as age, gender, years of service, and position held according to this research study. Empirically, purposive sampling, as denoted in this paper, targets information-rich participants about the selected subject, leadership (Campbell et al., 2020). The Chief Commercial Officer of Emirates Airlines has relevant knowledge in leadership because of his long years of service. Additionally, the researchers interviewed nine middle-level and 13 lower-level employees and seven premium customers of the airline. The employees worked in various departments of the airline. The researchers used an online survey to select customers who frequent the airline ticketing system. The information was gained from the departmental regulatory authority, and the data collection period lasted three months.

Data Collection

The researchers used interviews to collect information from participants. Open-ended interview formats allowed the employees to explore answers from all dimensions. The research additionally used surveys to enroll participants from the customer base. The survey was submitted and shared online with the participants. lastly, data was collected through secondary sources such as website publications, journal articles, and case studies to increase the rigor of findings.

Data Analysis

The collected data were analyzed through the narrative technique. It is a qualitative data analysis approach that uses information from interviews, readings, and case studies to form cohesive stories. Depending on the subject in question, the method efficiently serves the researchers and readers with convenience when understanding the intrigues of the research. Contextually, describing the leadership challenges, styles, expectations, and impacts on employees of Emirates Airlines as provided by the participants help researchers to adequately respond to the research objectives and questions while simultaneously confirming the hypotheses of the secondary data.

Validity

The validity of the research attests to the alignment of results with objectives and questions. This case verifies whether the research findings adequately represent the same conclusions on untested populations. The validity of this research was guaranteed by the research design adopted, the theoretical framework, and the general methodology. The number of participants and selection approach all contribute to the validity of the findings. Similarly, the reliability of the research was guaranteed by the testing scales used in the interviews. They have item consistency and limited error.

Limitation

The research uses data from interviews that are not correlated with alternatively practical data collection tools. The research findings rely on secondary data such as case study analysis, journal articles, website publications, and books for interpretation. Furthermore, the number of interviewed participants is slightly lower than the sample it should represent. Therefore, increasing the rigor of the study is a concern. When a study uses data from secondary sources to make conclusions, there is a possibility of inheriting biases and study limitations. It is, therefore, a concern going forward for future studies.

Findings

The findings discussed throughout this section have been further analyzed through a narrative approach. Data have been derived from feedback from interviewees and secondary sources in line with research objectives and questions. The instrumentality to support the validity claims of the research is anchored inadequate responses to the research questions and the findings, as illustrated in the following subsections.

Leadership Challenges

The major problem that Emirates Airlines faces is in hiring qualified personnel. Hiring is a process that affects the operations of the organization, especially among the pilots. According to a primary report from the Chief Commercial Officer of Emirates Airlines, the company continuously expands its operations in underserved regions across Africa and South America. Due to limited qualified pilots, they have reduced the number of flights from certain countries. According to the East African Newspaper, this problem was supported by the diplomatic wrangles that started with fewer flights leaving Nigeria to the United Arab Emirates (Momoh, 2022). The newspaper reported that Emirates Airlines has been at the forefront of reducing the number of flights to many destinations across Africa due to diplomatic challenges (Momoh, 2022). The chief commercial officer also reported that due to limited qualified personnel, their business objectives of expanding to the world standard remain a long-term milestone. Comparatively, the challenge of a limited number of employees on the frontline of flights is attributed to global competition and regulatory policies affecting the Emirates Group and international agencies (The Emirates Group, n.d). In other words, the problem of hiring leadership affects the company in additional aspects, including strategic fit and realization of vision and mission, as further discussed.

Most of Emirates’ top leadership hinders a scaled-down approach in decision-making as they have been with the company since its inception. The researchers found that the board of directors of Emirates Group is structured in ways that reduce the interaction with the junior members. It creates an internal problem of strategic fit among lower and middle-level employees, as further exemplified by Qasim (2020). The problem with this stratification is understanding the changes that currently affect the airlines, especially after the COVID-19 lockdown and travel restrictions. For a company founded and run by the original members at the helm of leadership, adopting the changes in pricing, ticketing, and scheduling becomes relatively challenging, as analyzed by Shastri (2023). According to the feedback from interviewed middle-level management, approval of the ideas coming from the bottom takes time, and most ideas go unheard. For example, the airline continues to sponsor globally renowned sports personalities like Cristiano Ronaldo, the late Pele, and iconic actresses like Jenifer Aniston as ideal marketing approaches. In contrast, more can be done (Emirates Group., n.d). In this case, the company continues with the ideas emanating from the top executive held by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the chief executive officer and president of Emirates Group. The older marketing approach limits utilization of the contemporary social media era hence a misfit in organizational culture and strategy formulation.

A significant problem in the leadership of Emirates Group that transitions to Emirates Airlines is the lack of common organizational culture. Emirates Group operates as an umbrella organization dealing with air services maintenance, leisure and tourism organizers, booking agencies, and airline regulations. Its total number of employees surpasses 50000 people from sociocultural backgrounds (Emirates Group, n.d). For such a big number, the interviewed executive reported that the group delegates every agency with distinct roles and responsibilities. However, Middle- and junior-level employees are divided, with some dissatisfied with the corporate culture. The junior-level employees reported that hierarchical structure makes one less significant in higher decision-making functionalities. For this reason, they are happy to work for a global company that provides job security (Wilkins & Emik, 2021). On the other hand, the research found that having multilayered structures in a company infringes the way employees approach strategy formulation and realization of the objectives and missions of the company. In actuality, the several levels of the structure reduce elements that promote work experience and satisfaction.

Two-thirds of the interviewed Emirates Airlines customers reported that they were satisfied with the services offered by the airline, while one-third reported mixed feelings. Four out of seven customers indicated that the airline has never canceled their tickets, and travel experiences have exceeded expectations. They indicated that the cabin crew illustrated all the expectations before, during, and after the flight, giving them a sense of exemplary service. They also denoted that the airline requested them to receive notifications about price offerings that depended on seasons. Due to this approach of requesting customers to accept notifications, the airline gets information about its service, customer relationship management, and prioritization of loyal customers. The move is an innovative business model that has ensured the airline keeps most customers globally. On the contrary, a third of the customers (interviewed participants) illustrated mixed reactions, pointing out that the airline does not maintain scheduling for specific overbooked routes. CNBC News captured their case in an incident where London Heathrow Airport demanded that the airline cut selling tickets to the destination (Turak, 2022). The incident brought in the role of DNATA, an agency responsible for international ticketing and fulfillment of ground flight obligations of Emirates Airlines. Therefore, the validity of the reports by the customers retains significance for future directions taken by the airline.

Leadership Style

The Emirates Group, the parent company of Emirates Airlines, majorly uses bureaucratic leadership. Like contingency leadership theory, bureaucratic leadership integrates different leadership styles, such as autocratic, democratic, and authentic approaches (Mansaray, 2019). However, bureaucratic leadership is exemplified in a management system where a hierarchy exists (Mansaray, 2019). It is in sync with organizations with subsidiaries and multinational outlets. It is also multilayered, with employees expected to follow predetermined guidelines from the top to the bottom. In this leadership model, superiors may be seen as considerate of the views of employees within specific ranks (Mansaray, 2019). In the senior executive level of Emirates Airlines, from where the office of the chief operations officer is situated, decisions are made based on the interests of the Emirates Group. The interviewees reported that all decisions, short or long-term, made in the company are for the growth of the company. Arguably, 80% of participants reported that they were happy with the leadership structure and style of the airline. Although 80% of the interviewed middle-level employees reported that much work is left on their shoulders, they agreed that when decisions are made from the top, they reduce participation, and how leadership manifests changes their perceptions about the leadership styles used, as explained by Al Saed, Upadhya & Saleh (2020). It is a different case for junior-level employees represented by their departmental heads. Consequently, bureaucratic leadership impacts and applies differently in multinational and multilayered organizations.

Bureaucratic leadership incorporates all other leadership approaches as they are applied by Emirates Airlines. The leadership framework permits the executive management to incorporate democratic leadership when dealing with subsections of employees. The chief operational officer interviewed reported that to reduce turnover rates and maintain impeccable business models, the Emirates Group uses democratic leadership to take the views of employees. This idea is reinforced by the publications that illustrate challenges affecting the aviation sector, including the competitive labor and reduced number of qualified pilots and airport control personnel (Hobby, 2018; Al Saed, Upadhya & Saleh, 2020). Furthermore, using democratic leadership in various parts of the company has enabled the airline to transmit a culture of employee-centric policies making most interviewed middle and lower-level staff satisfied with working for the airline regardless of all aspects standing (Mansaray, 2019). In return, the employees become innovative, aligned with the mission and visions of the company, and ensure profits are made in all business operations. The middle and junior-level employees denoted that they are satisfied with the packages they gained from the company besides the salaries earned. In this case, the bureaucratic leadership style enables Emirates Airlines to use performance appraisal to recognize and motivate employees and make the management proactive to issues affecting the human relations in the entire Emirates Group.

Contingency leadership theory helps organizational leaders to forecast challenges occasioned by risks from all sides while revealing their inherent traits. The theory opines that leaders must be ready for challenges and mostly become proactive in identifying risks that would derail the achievability of objectives (Jibirin Salihu, 2019). When asked what they thought of the president and chief executive officer, middle-level employee participants reported that he is a calm and reserved leader. Others reported that he has a specific bias-free type of personality and that he talks with courtesy. The senior participant at the top management level reported that the chief executive officer named above is a true business icon who understands the needs of Emirates Airlines before they occur, as described by Al Saed, Upadhya & Saleh (2020). Based on these reports and assertions from secondary sources, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum approaches leadership in a more transformational manner. He mixes experiences with innovative practices to influence the decisions of the multibillion-dollar airline group, as analyzed by Ahmed & Al Amiri (2022). According to Ahmed & Al Amiri (2022), it has been transformational leadership that has helped the United Arab Emirates to rise to the top position as a regional hub for international tourism, economic immigration, and regional growth. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum is resonated to be the brains behind the economic growth of Dubai. His business leadership insights correlate with the goals and visions the political elites have for Dubai and the United Arab Emirates as a country. In summary, the employees, departmental heads, and subsidiaries of Emirates Group use bureaucratic leadership as an umbrella for all types of situational leadership requirements.

Ideal Followers

Reports from middle and junior-level employee participants denote that Emirates Group expects followers to be performance oriented and driven to achieve organizational objectives. 90% of middle-level employees reported being more fixated on implementing the ideas from the top chain because derailing, setbacks, and shortcomings are not entertained. They expressed that employees must understand what they are expected to do during role delegation and work towards attaining the targets. With the president of the Emirates Group running the entire aviation sector and business operations, everyone is expected to outperform themselves while instrumentalizing their presence through results (Almuzaiqer et al., 2022). The senior management participant indicated that the company periodically offers training programs for the followers to improve their skills and make them market-agile and privy to the changes that affect the needs of the organization. In return, the leadership of Emirates Group expects retention of top talent, reduced conflicts affiliated with compensational claims, and sabotage of agreements.

The cultural workforce of Emirates Airlines is diverse, making it follow expectations to be aligned to innovative practices, overachieved outcomes, and business sustainability. According to 65% of the interviewees, the business depends on their role implementation. This assertion correlated with the scenario at London Heathrow Airport, as the latter denied Emirates Airlines’ continuation of summer bookings. According to CNBC News, the airline reported that their agency DNATA was in a position to fulfill all their mandates besides air control functions reserved for the Heathrow Airport management (Turak, 2022). The scenario indicated the expectations the leadership of the airline has on its employees in the service sector, including hospitality, tourism, accommodation, and international flight bookings. Analytically, the expected kind of following required from employees is characterized by loyalty. The airline invests in the employees for the return of loyalty detailing proactiveness to changes, innovation, satisfaction, and conformation to the business models of the Emirates Group.

A report from 86% of interviewed participants shared the following binary expectations. The middle and junior-level employees described that the organization requires them to be intrinsically motivated, responsible, positive, and excellent in their actions. However, they also expected the management to incorporate their views on work ethics, dispute, and compensational settlements. According to contingency theory, situations that call for organizational leadership are those surrounding change, workforce, customers, and market dynamics. These situations internally, externally, and financially, affect the interactions between the staff and the management teams (Wilkins & Emik, 2021; Ahmed & Al Amiri, 2022). Therefore, creating a culture that allows workers to know what is expected of them and equally integrating the same on the part of the management makes operations transition smoothly beyond the hurdles of change. For emphasis, the chief commercial officer of Emirates Airlines indicated that preparing employees across levels in times of change enables their support to be visible when discussing factors for the change concept in question. To summarize, expectations of followers serve significance in an equal degree as they do the top management.

Dos and Don’ts in Leadership

According to the chief commercial officer, the top leadership must plan ahead for events, decisions, and outcomes. When asked about how his office prepares for risks, setbacks, and failures in plan implementation, he responded that the top leadership of the Emirates Group does not allow room for events to occur, finding them unprepared. As the person in charge of sales and implementation of commercial objectives and strategies, he must be agile and proactive to issues likely to fall in his domain. According to his responses, the management of a team or a department is tasked with hiring and implementation of the management processes. Griffin (2021), in the 13^th edition publication, and Ahmed & Al Amiri (2022) associate management processes to include planning and decision-making, organizing, leading, and controlling outcomes of the entire process. Therefore, not only does the chief commercial officer of Emirates Airlines lead his team by the book, but he also incorporates the idealisms of effective management. As a leader, one must be able to forecast and avert challenges before they occur.

Based on the question of leadership don’ts, the top leadership must not work in solitary. Under no circumstances are top leadership allowed to make decisions and implement them without running them through the board. Ideally, the chief commercial officer was asked about instances of fallout in ideas among the top management. His response idolized a mutual internal culture that predicated the agreements understood by all other interviewed participants. He denoted that even the president of the Emirates Group answers to the board while running and leading the multinational aviation business. Therefore, making solitary decisions is limited in the scope of the general leadership of the airline, as similarly discussed by Griffin (2021). Moreover, the middle and junior-level employees approach their work with a common understanding that they must bring the best in performance and results. Once decisions are passed in the higher hierarchical chain, their implementation depends on the level of commitment of the people responsible. Therefore, the leadership of the Emirates Groups in inclusion with Emirates Airlines streamlines from the top executive management to the lowest levels.

Conclusion

The government of the United Arab Emirates is monarchical and hence influences the business operations, leadership styles, and independence of state-owned corporations. According to primary and secondary sources, the Emirates Group is a state-owned airline business whose many leaders are directly appointed by the royal family. Based on these underpinnings, the leadership of Emirates Airlines is likely affected by the monarchical stipulations coming from the state. Aspects including organizational culture, clarity and understanding of the vision and mission of the airline, strategy formulation, and decision-making processes are under scrutiny for effective understanding of the success factors and challenges met by the organization. The problem statement for this research is to investigate the major leadership challenges facing Emirates Airline, their ideal leadership styles, expectations on followers and the leadership aspects to be done and those that require review and reconsideration. As such, the paper uses qualitative interviews in addition to secondary sources to find the stated problem statement.

Since the inception of Emirates Airlines in 1985, it has strived and thrived to become the most reputable Middle Eastern airline and arguably among the best in the world. Under the Emirates Group and the leadership of Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the airline has a network destination of over 150 countries across all six continents. The airline has more than 270 aircraft, with Dubai National Air Transport Association serving as its link to international airports around the world. Due to this, the Dnata agency operates in more than 127 airports globally. This reflects that the presence of the airline is witnessed in more than three-quarters of global countries. Consequently, the airline has maintained exemplary profit patterns for more than thirty years of its existence. Upon interviewing the chief commercial officer, a senior member of the executive committee of the Emirates Group, it became apparent that leadership approaches used are both bureaucratic and transformational. Decisions are made in the interests of the airline while maintaining the customer and employee relationships. The interview was divided into three groups for credibility and authenticity of the collected data. The first interviewee was the chief commercial officer of Emirates Airlines. The second group was the middle and junior-level employees, while select customers also highlighted their experience with the airline. The centrality of the interview focused on leadership challenges, styles, effects, and expectations of followers as captured by the research objectives and questions.

Findings revealed that hiring qualified personnel remains a challenge as it is a big part of the challenges facing the aviation sector. The number of employees required to turn the objectives of Emirates Airlines into reality begins with hiring qualified pilots, training, and retaining them. the chief commercial officer of the company illustrated that the top pilots, cabin crew, and ground support staff are competed for in the aviation sector. Therefore, having a limited number disparages the achievement of long-term milestones. Moreover, the team leading the airline has been in existence with the company since its inception in 1985, and this occasionally affects decision-making, particularly among the middle and junior-level employees. The interviewees denoted that organizational structure follows a hierarchical leadership approach and, in most cases, they are left out of the core decisions of the airline. Although the airline management uses bureaucratic and transformational leadership styles, they lay directions on the expectations that the followers must adhere to. For example, decisions must be made in the concession of the executive members, planning must precede decision-making to avert and manage risks and failures, and lastly, employees across the board must work towards the interests of the company.

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