It is a tough story to read and I feel for the family. But we weren't there so its hard to know what should have/could have been done under the circumstances.
I have also come to know the EK culture over these past 3 years and the words "empowerment" are "EK" do not quite go together.
To accommodate overnight would have required someone's approval, to go outside the rulebook would have required someones approval and any decisions which weren't by the book would have eventually trickled back to DXB and questions asked. Is that right? No, but it is what it is.
Originally Posted by
Brussels traveller
I am sickened reading the story.
Regardless of whether it was right to deplane the family or not, the whole situation was handled extremely poorly and there can be no excuse for that. Particularly when there were children involved, for whom the whole experience of being evicted from the aircraft would have been frightening and traumatic.
The Captain should have come and explained the situation himself. Emirates should have had their station manager meet the family, arrange for them to be accommodated overnight and assist them onto the flight the following day. This would have turned a horror story into a positive one, as they recount the experience to others. The inconvenience of an overnight stop in Singapore would have paled in comparison to the warm and supportive customer service they would have experienced.
Opportunity missed, EK.