Etihad Airways hits emiratisation milestone

Etihad Airways has welcomed Mohamed Al Mansoori, its 2,000th Emirati member of staff, to the airline.
Mohamed, who is 30 years old and from Abu Dhabi, recently joined the airline’s Human Resources team as Senior Manager- People Reward and Policy.
A graduate of the University of Hull in the UK, Mohamed brings with him a wealth of knowledge in Human resource management. He joins Etihad Airways from the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) where he worked in various senior roles including Senior Specialist Strategies and Studies and Senior Specialist Compensation and Benefits for Asia Pacific and the Middle East based out of Singapore.
Having worked in the UAE’s oil and gas industry for over six years, Mohamed gained extensive experience in the areas of people reward policies and international remuneration packages.
He played an important role in major HR projects and initiatives in ADNOC including the complete revamp and automation of their Performance Management System, job evaluation and alignment, workforce planning, employee surveys, succession planning and development of the HR Balance Scorecard. He also worked on developing international packages and HR policies in more than 14 countries in the Asia Pacific region including Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and China.
Ray Gammell, Etihad Airways Chief People and Performance Officer, said: “We are delighted to welcome Mohamed, the airline’s 2000th Emirati employee, to the Etihad Airways family.
“As the national airline of the United Arab Emirates we are committed to growing and developing a highly qualified cadre of UAE Nationals and empowering them to play an even greater role in our world-class business.”
Etihad Airways now employs more than 2,000 UAE nationals across the spectrum of its operations, with Emiratis now being the number one nationality group in the airline as well as the number one nationality group at the manager and higher management levels.
Mohamed Al Mansoori said: “I am thrilled to be the 2000th Emirati to join Etihad Airways and be part of this world class airline that enjoys a fantastic reputation both in the UAE and across the globe.
“It is inspiring to join an organization that puts so much weight not only on hiring but also on developing UAE Nationals to work in this highly-productive multicultural environment offering me this fantastic opportunity to work alongside people from more than 144 nationalities.”
Etihad Airways has received widespread praise for its UAE National development strategy aimed at building airline specific capability for the future with over twenty specialised programmes across the business for graduate managers including sales and airport operations managers, cadet pilots, technical engineers, and guest services and contact centre agents.
With the aim of diversifying its offering and training UAE Nationals in all aspects of the aviation business, Etihad Airways had recently expanded its UAE national development efforts with the launch of a two-year Graduate Finance Development Programme and plans to launch new specialised programmes in government affairs, network planning, properties and logistics.
The airline had also recently unveiled major plans to accelerate Emirati employment over the coming five years.
Ray Gammell added: ““We have made huge strides, been widely praised for our efforts, and are looking forward to supporting even more UAE nationals across the business as we embark on our plans to welcome more than 6000 UAE Nationals in the airline by
2020.
“We look forward to supporting Mohammed as he embarks on an exciting and rewarding career with the UAE’s national carrier.”