paul577

I thought EMIRATES is meant to be a premier airline or perhaps that's just the advertising hype it uses. Certaily the people on yesterday's flight from Muscat to Dubai would have a different view. A ten hour delay , virtually no communication about why, numerous different new departure times given.....none eventuated until the final one 10 hours late. Moreover, the replacement plane (330 v777) had fewer J seats, so in the free seating plan devised by Emirates those last to board could not get the J seat for which they had paid. This experience was charactersied by chaos, confusion, lack of information and a decided 'couldn't care less' attitude by ground staff. Yes, planes malfunction and flights are delayed. The key to managing that situation is to keep passengers informed about what is happening. Most quality airlines manage to do this. On this score Emirates failed miserably ( and according to the locals in the lounge, not an uncommon experience).

PhlyingRPh

Really strange and IMO uncharacteristic of EK. If I were in your shoes I would probably be trying to figure out how get out of an Omani jail round about now.

DYKWIA

Wow, a 10 hour delay for a 40 minute flight...

I suppose one way of looking at the J class situation would be that if they had tried to do it properly, and downgrade people at the gate, this could have added to the delays while people argued.

By letting everyone on and then telling them meant that the J passengers who had been forcably downgraded would be left with no choice, and given the short flight and 10 hour delay would probably just 'grin and bear it'.

It will be interesting to see how they handle the claims for downgrade compensation if they don't know exactly who was downgraded

Cheers,
Rick

sadiqhassan

This downgrade thingy once happened to my mother (plane change to 330 from 77W and not enough J seats so given a Y pass.) However, once on board there was a free seat in J so she was moved up - however there is no way for EK to know that AFAIK - I've always wanted to apply for downgrade compensation for that trip

Cheers,

ulev

Regarding the headline question: After a number of EK flights just recently I would certainly not put EK anywhere in the vicinity of a premier airline. I rather had the feeling of an LCC with an attached business class.

Most of that feeling comes from an absolutely inadequate on board service. I did not have the feeling they train their flight attendants at all. A ridiculous service concept and a sub par C product (on A330/340s) gave me the rest.

I was actually planning to move over to EK from SQ, but quickly gave up that idea after only a few long hauls.

moocherx

A couple of years ago I flew weekly between Kuwait and Dubai. I flew KU my boss EK. My flights were always on time; his were a minimum 3-hour delay (for a 1h20m flight).
I believe this *may* be something to do with the loop-like hopping they use on their intra-Middle East routes. The more hops, the more likelihood for a delay at each hop.
A bigger issue is the Middle-East-wide lack of good Customer Service, particularly with ALL of the regional airlines. Delays happen... but being made comfortable and feeling informed are all we ask for, right?

mag

baseline: i completely agree. best airline marketing maybe... the airline cannot cope with growth, the staff is poorly trained plus (not EKs fault, but...) DXB airport is a zoo.

sadiqhassan

I think airlines have to 'give' somewhere to remain profitable. US airlines are offering the worst standards of service I have ever seen (except maybe CO) in order to keep their prices low. SQ is keeping a high standard of service but is remaining very strict with upgrades, FF program and ticket availability + their prices are high. EK manages to offer to low fares, good frequencies, a reasoanable product (compared to its Middle Eastern competitiors at least) etc. However, it has to sacrifice cabin crew service and, to a certain extent, seating quality.


Cheers,

Aztec_Flyer

I've always wondered how EK scored so highly in the "premier airline" ratings.

1. There's very little brand consistancy with the hard product. Even reading the FAQ on flyertalk you still need to concetrate to know which type of seat to expect!
2. As mentioned by others the customer service leaves a lot to be desired.
3. The meals and crew are also below par compared to BA, LH, TG, SQ and others. I'd actually compare the EK crews to the US carriers - i.e. you can be very lucky or very unlucky but have little idea what to expect in advance.

On the other hand, their marketing department does deserve awards for maintaining the illusion...

Aztec.

paul577

Clearly I was not thrilled with EK after that experience. The next day I took ETIHAD for the first time and that was really impressive in J on a 330-200. Interesting design with individual cubicles for each passenger. I loved the sign saying something like: " when putting yourself in the bed position, please put your feet up first to avoid entrapment". Probaly been a few bruised shins.

directorguy_

A 10-hour delay for MCT-DXB?! That's weird. Also awful for pax transiting via Dubai. THey could have arranged for bus transportation to get the passengers to DXB and it would have taken a shorter amount of time.

juan516

I am 100 % with mag on this one, after flying CMB to DXB recently.

The only plus was the almost on time arrival, making up a delay of about 45 mins. which is not easy.

Everything else has been very basic.

Staff training seems to be a real problem, too young, too unexperienced.

Side note regarding Dubai: while arriving in EK Business but connecting to another carrier EK did everything to refuse me to enter (even with my EK invitation !) their Business Lounge (which unfortunately has become an overcrowded Zoo as well, but is IIRC the only DXB Business Lounge with showers which I badly needed after the soso Business experience).

I had good experiences in OCT 2004, flying EK F EU to OZ and back on the then brand new Airbus 340-500 and Airbus 340-300 seat-, food- and beverage-wise. And I loved their luxurious Chauffeur Service.

But still then in F on flagship services the staff has been subpar.

Sorry to have to tell you this - I hope the situation will improve soon.

DYKWIA

So, you're complaining because EK wouldn't break the rules for you? You aren't entitled to use the EK lounge as an arriving passenger, unless you are connecting to another EK flight.

Cheers,
Rick

directorguy_

The previous poster had an EK invitation, so I think he/she was entitled to use the Lounge. If DXB was large enough to accomodate many passengers, then they should change the rules and allow pax arriving on an EK flight but connecting on another carrier to use the Lounge. But DXB lounges are a zoo these days, they can't cope with 1 airline let alone several.
Many people are praying for the day that the new Terminal opens and DXB is hopefully no longer crowded. Also, for the day when those damned new A380s arrive so EK can begin to organize itself.