Originally Posted by subject2load

Well thanks for asking folks, but I will (for now, at least....) confine myself to an 'executive summary' (corporate speak!) rather than the full gory unabridged version.

So.... a combination of factors :

- shambles of a boarding process at the gate (just about understandable at some (smaller) stations, but shameful at its much-lauded home base of DXB with countless numbers of ground staff to get things right

- shambles of a boarding process on to the a/c itself : Y pax actively encouraged to use the F-only boarding jetty, wandering through F & J cabins for a period lasting over 10 mins in all ("ooh ....why can't WE sit here....isn't it nice ....and such big seats "), thus delaying the initial drinks service & personalised welcome to premium pax

- possibly the worst Purser I have encountered on EK. Perfectly pleasant individual (lengthy discussions between he & me ensued during the flight), but clearly promoted beyond his ability

- a largely dysfunctional & 'disjointed' crew : one FA member asking "can I get you something to drink ?" a full ten minutes after I had actually ordered a drink from another FA, but which was yet to arrive

- overall lack of discretion, initiative & attention to detail, and a robotic rather than flexible approach (if I quote isolated specifics, they might come across as petty/trivial but, taken together, they made for a certain amount of frustration)

One mitigating factor re the boarding : incoming flight had arrived late, and there was a push to get us off with the least possible delay. But that stemmed more from EK's self-imposed scheduling pressures than trying to do us pax a favour)

Not a tragedy given all the nasty things going on in parts of this big wide world. But if experienced repeatedly, and often enough, over a period of time .... you would definitely be thinking of switching carriers. But right now, I am still - fundamentally - a fan of EK.

I was not the only unhappy bunny on board.