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Emirates flight delay, misconnection and delayed baggage experience
I was supposed to fly from Mumbai to Accra via Dubai on Wednesday 27th April. Flights were EK 501 departing at 430am with a 90-minute connection in Dubai to EK 787.
At around 4am, we were advised that due to a hydraulics leak on A6-ECX our departure would be pushed back by 3 hours to 730am. We returned to the lounge. At around 530am, we were advised that a replacement part would be required and would be en route from Dubai on A6-EBC operating EK 504 arriving at 830am. Our departure was accordingly rescheduled for 930am. Once the part was on hand, it was determined that the repairs to A6-ECX would take longer than earlier expected. Our departure was then rescheduled for 11am. This posed a problem as the crew were running out of duty hours. It was then decided that the crew originally scheduled to operate EK 501 on A6-ECX would instead operate EK 505 on A6-EBC and the crew from EK 504 would disembark in Mumbai, wait for A6-ACX to be fixed and then operate it back to Dubai as EK 501. This meant that passengers due to depart at 430am and who had been waiting 5+ hrs already at the airport would continue to remain in Mumbai while passengers checking in for the 945am flight were being transported. A virtual riot ensued with fistfights breaking out between the two groups of passengers. A handful of ringleaders (about 20) were then "rewarded" by being granted passage on the spare seats on board EK 505 while the remaining passengers who didn't get involved in the fisticuffs were left behind. EK 505 actually left with empty seats as the ground staff were unable to rebook additional passengers due to time constraints with crew duty time. Throughout this period, passengers who politely requested rerouting on other carriers were denied rerouting, but those who shouted or threatened were swiftly pulled aside and rerouted. Refreshments were offered to passengers at Celebrations restaurant (and of course those of us who had lounge access were able to eat there). Boarding on A6-ECX finally commenced at 1130am and we were airborne at 1218pm, a delay of 7h48m. We landed in Dubai at 123pm local time and disembarked at approx. 140pm. Arrival in Dubai was chaotic. Passengers with lounge access were asked to proceed through security to the lounge who would handle our rebooking. At the lounge, they discovered that my flight had already been rebooked for the next day at 730am and they printed a new itinerary for me. I asked about hotel accommodation but was told that none would be provided since my booking class was not eligible for STPC departing India. I tried to argue that this should not be relevant as this was a misconnection rather than a straightforward STPC but the agent was unable to do anything. Accordingly, I made a booking myself at my corporate rate (AED 400) for the Crowne Plaza Festival City and proceeded to immigration at around 3pm. I began the transit visa paperwork process at the Emirates Stopover desk but the agent there saw my itinerary and advised that Emirates would be able to sponsor my transit visa. She also inserted a hotel booking at the Millenium Hotel into my PNR and provided me with a voucher. It was already past the cutoff deadline for my room at the Crowne Plaza so I politely declined the hotel booking but accepted the visa voucher. I asked baggage services in arrival if they would be able to retrieve my baggage but this was not going to be possible. This is especially annoying as I had to pack my laptop charger into my checked bag when leaving BOM in order to comply with the 7kg weight limit for my backpack. On reaching the Crowne Plaza, I contacted the office and rescheduled the meeting that was the primary purpose of my trip. This meeting was scheduled for Wednesday at 230pm and I had tried to use the Gold Guaranteed Seat to change my booking from Wednesday to Tuesday to have sufficient buffer in case of eventualities like this, but this had been denied on the flimsy grounds that while Dubai to Accra was sold out there were still seats available from Mumbai to Dubai so the Gold Guaranteed Seat benefit didn't apply. That aside, the meeting was now rescheduled for Friday afternoon in Accra. Accordingly, I decided to change my booking from the Thursday flight that I had been auto-rebooked onto instead to the Friday flight, allowing me a day of work in Dubai on Thursday. Emirates was able to do this for me, but charged me an INR 4000 change fee for the privilege. I made multiple efforts to track down my luggage on Wednesday and Thursday to no avail (I was eventually advised on Friday that my luggage had somehow wound up in Doha). I had to spend AED 180 on one shirt, one set of underwear and one pair of socks from Marks & Spencer, plus AED 349 on a new DELL laptop charger. I had additional costs as well, but those were a result of the voluntary extended stay and are not relevant here. I eventually flew to Ghana on Friday morning. My two pieces of baggage from Mumbai on Wednesday did not arrive with me. I filed a PIR with Aviance (the Emirates handling agents in Ghana) and although the girl laughed when I asked about compensation, they followed up efficiently to have the bags forwarded from Doha. I have no need to purchase additional clothing in Accra as I maintain an apartment here, so costs are irrelevant. I received a text about an hour ago advising that the bags are now in Accra and ready for collection. My questions are : a) What refunds/compensation, if any, should I seek from Emirates for the flight delay and the baggage delay? b) Should I have been charged the change fee after my original schedule was already disrupted, resulting in significant inconvenience? c) Is the situation in Mumbai where passengers who created a nuisance were rewarded ahead of those who remained civil worth complaining about? d) If I do write to Emirates, what aspect of this situation is the most aggregious and worth agitating about? |
Originally Posted by B747-437B
(Post 16306101)
My questions are :
a) What refunds/compensation, if any, should I seek from Emirates for the flight delay and the baggage delay? We can ask for compensation due to flight and baggage delay but most probably if u r lucky, you will be given some miles .. You can also ask for them to reimburse your CP hotel which you had booked when they did not give you the hotel when they refused STPC as well as the bill for the clothes and other incidental expenses due to delayed baggage .. b) Should I have been charged the change fee after my original schedule was already disrupted, resulting in significant inconvenience? Absolutely not in my opinion and this should be refunded clearly. c) Is the situation in Mumbai where passengers who created a nuisance were rewarded ahead of those who remained civil worth complaining about? You may but they will give their own reasons for this and I guess you cannot prove this .. and IMHO, they already had a plane full of pax many of whom would have already missed their onward connections.. so they might as well allow the other flight to go ahead as planned so that they also dont miss their connections.. ofcourse they should have ( and probably did ?) fiill up all vacant seats with those from your flight d) If I do write to Emirates, what aspect of this situation is the most aggregious and worth agitating about? The dxb experience on arrival, refusal of stpc, levying of change fee is something I would frown about since you are Gold and should be expected to be treated better.. ? |
Originally Posted by B747-437B
(Post 16306101)
I had tried to use the Gold Guaranteed Seat to change my booking from Wednesday to Tuesday to have sufficient buffer in case of eventualities like this, but this had been denied on the flimsy grounds that while Dubai to Accra was sold out there were still seats available from Mumbai to Dubai so the Gold Guaranteed Seat benefit didn't apply.
So, I would have tried to get mumbai - dxb changed with a change fee and applying gold guarantee on only the dxb - accra leg.. I did the opposite last week and it was successful as mentioned in the other thread.. |
Yes, I had a similar experience, at KUL last year, when most airports in Europe were closed because of the unpronounceable volcano. There was a flight (on which I was booked) to DXB, but they weren't letting anyone on who had a connecting flight to a closed airport. Local EK staff just shrugged their shoulders and said they couldn't do anything. Well did that start a riot! A lot of business class pax almost lynched the local supervisor, after which they relented and found hotel rooms for most people.
As for me, I just slunk away to the ticketing desk and demanded my ticket be changed to somewhere that was open. I chose Rome (not really where I wanted to go) but much nearer than KUL. Needless to say these episodes reflect quite badly on EK's willingness to help out (bus class) pax in distress. If UA pulled that trick on me I'd be mortified! (Hope this post is not too negative or confrontational)... Let me know if it is. |
I sent the following note to Emirates today in line with the above.
Dear Sirs, I was supposed to fly from Mumbai to Accra via Dubai on Wednesday 27th April. The first flight was EK 501 scheduled to depart at 430am. At around 4am that morning, passengers were advised that due to a hydraulics leak on aircraft A6-ECX, the departure would be pushed back by 3 hours to 730am. This delay was subsequently extended to 11am. The aircraft eventually was airborne from Mumbai at 1218pm, a delay of 7h48m. This caused me to miss my onward connecting flight EK 787 to Accra and forced me to reschedule the meeting that was the primary purpose of my trip to Ghana that day. During the nearly 8 hour delay, another Emirates flight (EK 505) departed from Mumbai to Dubai, but despite being a Skywards Gold member and requesting to be rebooked onto that flight, I was not prioritised accordingly. Upon my eventual arrival in Dubai at 140pm (instead of 6am), it was not possible for Emirates staff to locate and deliver my baggage to me as it had been tagged for delivery in Accra. As a result, during my transit stay in Dubai, I was forced to incur AED 529.00 in costs to purchase 1 shirt, 1 set of underwear, 1 set of socks and 1 laptop charger to replace items that had been in the checked luggage that was not delivered to me. The checked luggage was eventually delivered to me in Ghana on Saturday 30th April. I am requesting that Emirates reimburse to me the above costs of AED 529.00 in accordance with the attached receipts. I am willing to accept this reimbursement, at your discretion, either as a credit posted to my credit card, or as a bank check for an equivalent sum in Indian Rupees or US Dollars, or else as a travel credit for future use on Emirates. I am also requesting that Emirates credit me with 15000 Skywards miles as a goodwill gesture to acknowledge the multiple inconveniences suffered as a result of the flight delay in Mumbai. It should be noted, but is not the subject of any financial claim by myself from Emirates, that during the transit in Dubai I did not accept hotel accommodation on Emirates' account and that I was furthermore charged INR 4000.00 to change my ticket date to 29th April, despite that schedule change being necessitated by the initial delay that was within Emirates' control. I therefore believe that the above request for reimbursement and restitution is a reasonable and appropriate means to settle this matter. I would also like to take this opportunity to commend your Mumbai lounge staff, especially xxx xxx (please forgive if I did not get the spelling correct), who displayed tremendous patience when dealing with many irate passengers during the lengthy flight delay. Yours sincerely, B747-437B Skywards Gold xxxxxxxxx PNR xxxxxx Ticket 176xxxxxxxxxx |
Sorry to hear of this, keep us updated. Hate it when being unruly works.
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Dear B747-437B, Thank you for your email regarding your recent experience with Emirates. We are very sorry to learn of your subsequent disappointment on this occasion. Please rest assured we have already forwarded your correspondence to Emirates Customer Affairs & Service Audit department, who handle all airline related issues. The case will be assigned to a Customer Relations Officer, and once they have completed their investigation, they will contact you directly with the outcome. If you have additional information which you feel might be of benefit to them, their contacts are as follows: Emirates Customer Affairs & Service Audit P O Box 686 Dubai, UAE Tel. 971 4 7083611 Fax. 971 4 2864120 customer (dot) affairs (at) emirates (dot) com We thank you for you patience whilst the matter is reviewed. Should you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us on 971 4 316 7200. Thank you for your support of Emirates and we look forward to welcoming you on board Yours sincerely, XXX XXX Skywards Member Services |
Dear Mr B747-437B, Thank you for your e-mail message which was forwarded to us by our Skywards office on 10 May. I regret to learn of the inconvenience you experienced due to the delayed departure of flight EK501, from Mumbai to Dubai, on 27 April 2010. Our Daily Operations Report confirms the delay of 7 hours and 28 minutes due to a technical fault with the operating aircraft. Although every effort is made to achieve on-time departures, which is an integral part of our product, there are occasions when flights are delayed due to circumstances beyond our control. Flights are only operated when our Engineers tell us that it is safe to do so. Emirates will never compromise on the safety of our passengers and crew. I do agree that our passengers are inconvenienced when flights are delayed. Whilst we make every effort to transport passengers according to planned schedules, sometimes operational necessities/technical difficulties cause changes to these schedules. When this happens, we do our utmost to minimize passenger inconvenience. Our Airport Services Manager in Mumbai confirms that all passengers were provided with refreshments and apology letters, and our Premium class passengers and Gold Skywards members were guided to our lounge. I note that you were unhappy with our ground staff in Mumbai as they were unable to rebook you on the next flight, EK505, to Dubai departing at 9.45 am that same morning. May I kindly inform you that as the flight was booked to full capacity our staff were unable to transfer any passengers. I am delighted to learn that you were happy with our lounge staff. Emirates places high priority on customer satisfaction and we are proud to have professional representatives who offer our passengers the highest standard of customer care. I will most certainly convey your appreciation to the staff member concerned so that they can be made aware that their efforts have not gone unnoticed. Our Airport Services Manager in Dubai confirms that this delay caused you to miss your onward connecting flight EK787, to Accra on 27 April. Our reservation staff re-booked you on flight EK787 to Accra on 28 April, which you changed to EK787, on 29 April. Please accept our sincere apologies as you did not receive your baggage on your arrival in Accra. Our records show that your baggage was inadvertently left behind in Dubai. I am pleased to know that your baggage was restored to you on 30 April. Therefore, as a gesture of goodwill, without prejudice or admission of liability, I am pleased to reimburse you the amount of AED 529.00 for the out of pocket expense you incurred due to your delayed baggage. A cheque under separate cover will follow. In order for me to arrange for your cheque kindly confirm your preferred mailing address together with a telephone contact numbers quoting file reference MT/xxxxxxx. Being a customer service orientated organisation, we are well aware of the importance of meeting our passengers' expectations and although we cannot change what has happened, I do hope that you will accept my apology, as it is intended, most sincerely. Therefore, as a further gesture of goodwill, without prejudice or admission of liability, I am pleased to credit your Skywards account with 20,000 complimentary miles. We do value your support as a Gold Skywards member and look forward to welcoming you on board our flights again soon. Thank you for writing to us and allowing me to respond. Yours sincerely, XYZ Customer Affairs Everything I asked for and more. |
I was hoping for a response to:
Throughout this period, passengers who politely requested rerouting on other carriers were denied rerouting, but those who shouted or threatened were swiftly pulled aside and rerouted |
Originally Posted by B747-437B
(Post 16408535)
^^^^
Everything I asked for and more. |
Originally Posted by UA Fan
(Post 16409700)
I really did not expect this in this day and age, but good for you.
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FedEx package with a cheque for the full amount requested arrived at home last night. ^
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Interesting that shouting and fistfighting helps to get rebooked on EK!
I will make a note and try this next time! ;) |
Originally Posted by Rambuster
(Post 16502625)
Interesting that shouting and fistfighting helps to get rebooked on EK!
I will make a note and try this next time! ;) |
Originally Posted by Singapore_Air
(Post 16409646)
I was hoping for a response to: Throughout this period, passengers who politely requested rerouting on other carriers were denied rerouting, but those who shouted or threatened were swiftly pulled aside and rerouted
May I kindly inform you that as the flight was booked to full capacity our staff were unable to transfer any passengers.
Originally Posted by Rambuster
(Post 16502625)
Interesting that shouting and fistfighting helps to get rebooked on EK!
I will make a note and try this next time! ;) |
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