The Dubai DO - June 24-27, 2011
Jun 24, 2011, 5:15 pm
#453
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: VIENNA VA
Programs: BA emerald, AF rouge ,UA premier executive, SQ,ANA, HYATT,, AMENITI
Posts: 836
Jun 24, 2011, 5:19 pm
#454
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SIN (with a bit of ZRH sprinkled in)
Posts: 9,460
Jun 25, 2011, 2:42 am
#457
Join Date: May 2003
Location: CHC
Programs: UA, DL, AA, BD, NZ, QF, DJ, RCC, SPG, Priority Club, Accor Platinum
Posts: 1,231
Jun 25, 2011, 3:24 am
#458
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: London, United Kingdom
Programs: OW/AA, DL, UA; Marriott Titanium
Posts: 4,936
Why am I sitting here in foggy, rainy London when I could be there?
(can't because of work at the moment, but, still,......)
Jun 25, 2011, 3:55 am
#459
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: VIENNA VA
Programs: BA emerald, AF rouge ,UA premier executive, SQ,ANA, HYATT,, AMENITI
Posts: 836
Just came back for the EK tour, it was fantastic, superb out of this world.
For all EK bashers out there today i discovered that EK is not about making money alone but the quality of training care and great service.
EIGHTBLACK thank you very much
EK you got a new admirer.
For all EK bashers out there today i discovered that EK is not about making money alone but the quality of training care and great service.
EIGHTBLACK thank you very much
EK you got a new admirer.
Jun 25, 2011, 4:25 am
#460
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: NYC
Programs: CO Plat, Starwood Plat, Hyatt Plat, Hilton Diamond, CO Pres. Plus, Hertz #1 Gold
Posts: 1,213
It was, indeed, a terrific morning with EK, with great thanks to all of their people who came in on what would've been a day off to show some of their crew training, including dealing with in-flight emergencies on their cabin sims, and letting us be the 1st non-aviation people to use an emergency slide from the upper deck of their A380 cabin sim. That was quite a rush.
I'm a CO, soon to be UA, flier, who's attended all the CO and Star Mega Do's, and I was impressed by all that EK does to train its cabin staff and to inculcate their corporate to passenger ideals.
Thanks also to Simon for all the effort in setting this trip up. It's been great fun with interesting folks, way too much food, and little sleep (in a good way). You've done good, mate.
I'm a CO, soon to be UA, flier, who's attended all the CO and Star Mega Do's, and I was impressed by all that EK does to train its cabin staff and to inculcate their corporate to passenger ideals.
Thanks also to Simon for all the effort in setting this trip up. It's been great fun with interesting folks, way too much food, and little sleep (in a good way). You've done good, mate.
Last edited by From NYC; Jun 25, 2011 at 6:15 pm
Jun 25, 2011, 5:14 am
#461
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Delta 3MM, DM, AIA IR Shs and MLBabe
Programs: Prefer to stay where the herded cats are staying, IHG , Hyatt gold, bottom fish in other chains
Posts: 2,445
The attention they give to detail, the incredible training programs they use for EVERY employee. It deserves the #1 rating it usually gets.
Now, EK, remember to pick me up in MIA or MCO one day soon! I love you!
Eightblack, thank you for arranging this fascinating education for us. Hope you will post some email addresses of those wonderful EK people who spent the morning with us..I am sure we all want to thank them.
Last edited by dedehans; Jun 25, 2011 at 7:50 am Reason: overuse of superlative adjectives
Jun 25, 2011, 6:53 am
#463
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Dubai, UAE; Southern UK
Programs: BA Silver; EK Silver, IHG Gold
Posts: 92
What a fantastic experience we all just had....
EK really pulled out the stops for us, with senior level staff joining the tour (for some it was their first time seeing parts of the training facility also)
We are the first non-airline industry people to experience using the emergency slide from the top deck of the A380
A simulated emergency landing got us all talking, and a cabin depressurisation vividly indicated potential scenarios for the air travel we all do.
having a crew member yelling "brace, stay down" every 3 seconds whilst the cabin lights are malfunctioning and everything around is making strange noises will stay with me for a long time.
A huge, huge thanks must go to all the EK team who gave up part of their weekend to entertain and educate us, they all seemed to enjoy it and several made mention that some of the feedback FT members gave them will be passed up the chain...... it's rare to feel like a big company is actually listening when you say something, today EK did just that.
Thanks also to Simon, without his persistance, this would probably nevver have happened..... other national carriers now have a lot to live up to if FT visit!!
Anyway, enough waffle.... here's some photos of the day - these were all taken in areas sanctioned by EK (obviously there were several areas that we couldn't photograph, but hopefully these will give those who missed the day something of a taster)
The frontage of the training centre
The reason we're all here, listening to the introduction from Brian, the head of Skywards
The initial area that all new inductees start from, like a set from a futuristic movie!
A quick briefing about the slides, with EKs water escape training tank behind.
The cabin de-pressurisation experience.... the masks really do appear "from a panel above your heads"!!
Simulating the turbulance that caused the lack of pressure, the blurring of the photo shows how rough it was.... at Simon's insistance we got the turbulance cranked to the max!!
From the top of the evac slide on the upper deck of the 380... the height is correct and it really is that steep!
One of 'C' group experiencing the slide, wearing cotton overalls as the biggest danger on these slides comes from friction burns.
Looking into the cockpit / flight sim room.... at a min of $25m each there's a fair amount of cash tied up here... in use 24/7 so sadly no ability for us to try our hand at landing a 380 lol
Last stop on the tour, a quick look at the new fire training chamber, so new they couldn't actually demonstrate it as the gas hasn't been hooked up yet, but it can simulate cabin fires in a number of different areas and the crew do full training in it.... I think we were all glad that we didn't get put through this one!
EK really pulled out the stops for us, with senior level staff joining the tour (for some it was their first time seeing parts of the training facility also)
We are the first non-airline industry people to experience using the emergency slide from the top deck of the A380
A simulated emergency landing got us all talking, and a cabin depressurisation vividly indicated potential scenarios for the air travel we all do.
having a crew member yelling "brace, stay down" every 3 seconds whilst the cabin lights are malfunctioning and everything around is making strange noises will stay with me for a long time.
A huge, huge thanks must go to all the EK team who gave up part of their weekend to entertain and educate us, they all seemed to enjoy it and several made mention that some of the feedback FT members gave them will be passed up the chain...... it's rare to feel like a big company is actually listening when you say something, today EK did just that.
Thanks also to Simon, without his persistance, this would probably nevver have happened..... other national carriers now have a lot to live up to if FT visit!!
Anyway, enough waffle.... here's some photos of the day - these were all taken in areas sanctioned by EK (obviously there were several areas that we couldn't photograph, but hopefully these will give those who missed the day something of a taster)
The frontage of the training centre
The reason we're all here, listening to the introduction from Brian, the head of Skywards
The initial area that all new inductees start from, like a set from a futuristic movie!
A quick briefing about the slides, with EKs water escape training tank behind.
The cabin de-pressurisation experience.... the masks really do appear "from a panel above your heads"!!
Simulating the turbulance that caused the lack of pressure, the blurring of the photo shows how rough it was.... at Simon's insistance we got the turbulance cranked to the max!!
From the top of the evac slide on the upper deck of the 380... the height is correct and it really is that steep!
One of 'C' group experiencing the slide, wearing cotton overalls as the biggest danger on these slides comes from friction burns.
Looking into the cockpit / flight sim room.... at a min of $25m each there's a fair amount of cash tied up here... in use 24/7 so sadly no ability for us to try our hand at landing a 380 lol
Last stop on the tour, a quick look at the new fire training chamber, so new they couldn't actually demonstrate it as the gas hasn't been hooked up yet, but it can simulate cabin fires in a number of different areas and the crew do full training in it.... I think we were all glad that we didn't get put through this one!
Jun 25, 2011, 7:20 am
#464
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: San Francisco, CA
Programs: Amex Platinum, Chase Sapphire Reserve
Posts: 812
Here's a big thank-you to Emirates for touring us through their facility. It was really a memorable experience. And I now know how to correctly put on an oxygen mask 
I was in Group B, btw.
Simon - once again thank you very much for organizing such a trip.
Edit: Will upload a few pics soon.
Edit2: Put pics in a new post.
I was in Group B, btw.
Simon - once again thank you very much for organizing such a trip.
Edit: Will upload a few pics soon.
Edit2: Put pics in a new post.
Last edited by Xlr; Jun 26, 2011 at 2:50 am
