Originally Posted by
Monarch man
Skywards, you are of course absolutely correct,
Im consistently seeing a continued erosion in service levels in both J and F whilst paying more for the priviledge, I am therefore wondering what on earth EK are playing at regarding their loyal longstanding customers.
The rant as someone put it goes someway to explaining where or how the rot has set in, fortunately for me I am lucky enough to have a choice of carrier to most of my destinations and if EK treat their staff this way to save a buck and control then its a simple process of travelling with someone else.
So yes I am most certainly invested in one side of the debate, much in the same way as I invest in ethical and verified brands and products.
Look, I'm not saying it's great for EK to treat staff poorly. But it must be seen in perspective. Virtually every airline's staff complains about working conditions, look at how frequently we see strikes in cabin crew, flight crew, ATC and ground services in Germany, France and the UK for instance.
Ultimately it comes down to a poor expectation management, the marketing team goes out and promises the world and young, perhaps occasionally naive, flight attendant hopefuls dream of this prestigious life in the middle east. Ultimately it's mundane, tiring, work, and not as glamorous as it often is imagined. While I'm sure the complains are legitimate, I also think the perspective given in the article is a little one-sided and extreme. There are indeed still many happy staff at EK, and those that are unhappy are perhaps not as extremely unhappy as portrayed by the person interviewed in the article. I'm sure some are even unhappier, as well. The point is there's a range. And EK has an obligation to it's shareholder to make a profit, whether we think that to be ludicrous or silly given he's a billionaire is irrelevant.
You have options, and ultimately that's the only thing any of us can do, vote with our wallets. If you feel the staff at QR are treated more ethically (hint: they're not!) by all means fly QR. There are some of us who's routings make alternatives very difficult to find, or at least very limited and/or unattractive. I am in this position, my alternatives are ET, QR or EY, with ET leaving me a 1hr hop away from my final destination with a uncomfortably short (35 minute) transit in a terrible airport and longer overall flight times, EY not flying from my home airport (CPT) and very inconsistent on-board product as well as terrible ground service and hub airport, and QR often being more expensive, with terrible schedule (12+hr layovers in DOH) and less frequent flights.
I happen to have a relative who works at EK (flight crew, not cabin) and trust me, these sentiments aren't new, they've been around for years, amongst the pilots as well, but it still beats being enslaved in Doha or worse, the conditions the migrant construction force find themselves in, in all the ME countries.
I hate to always sound like an EK apologist, but I see it very pragmatically, supply and demand. If they're unhappy then leave, as long as there's a supply of willing applicants EK won't change a thing. Their goal is to turn a profit, staff are merely a tiny cog in a very big wheel.