It’s a

Site is offline

Yes. Same for me.

I got on to the site and read the article (fairly standard rant about how bad an employer EK is for cabin crew, this is not something new).
A bit later it was intermittently down for me too.

A link to the same site (different story) was on the BA forum last week which also didn’t work. The poster said he had been alerted on Facebook of the story he was posting about.

If if you are on FB then try through that. As it happens, the link in the OP isn’t working for me either but thanks to thijsseh, looks like I won’t lose a couple of minutes of my life that I’ll never get back.

S

Interesting that you are having issues with the site, none here so that’s a bit odd.
Regarding the subject matter I think it’s telling that the comments thus far are a little along the lines of “who cares” rather than getting to grips with the slipping levels of service.
Perhaps for some it’s easier to turn a blind eye and lament how things used to be, in any case I’m sure all of you are pleased not to be employed by Emirates.

For those who can't view the article, here's a copy-paste of it on Google Docs:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1vr...avkxQOw_eIi5bg

What would you like us to do? You seem to be quite invested in one side of the debate.

None of these are new statements or allegations, all the regulars, and probably many less regular visitors, of the EK Forum in FT know that many of the staff are frustrated and want to leave. It's a free market, if they're unhappy they should leave, that's the only message EK is going to understand. There are no unions, there is no civil disobedience, as long as young attractive women (and men) wish to work for EK they're not going to change how they treat their staff.

The UAE is not the UK or Germany or even the US when it comes to labour relations, as much as some would like it to be. That's not something any of us can change. Also the entire world doesn't necessarily share the western view of what labour relations should be, but that's straying into OMNI/PR.

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.

And the corollary is that when it comes down to it, more people enjoy low fares than they enjoy service standards (you only need to look at the most successful air carriers being low cost carriers - or of course, protected markets but that's a different issue) or the way the company they buy things from treat their staff - and that is true across all industries all over the world.

Not that that excuses poor treatment, but I think we all suffer from a bit of hypocrisy, or at the very least selective bias, if we equate our purchasing decisions with condoning the way an employer treats customers/staff/suppliers/the environment/social expectations/local laws - especially if you live a life with relatively wealthy standards of living.

We end up using jet fuel, and god knows that the hydrocarbon and energy industries aren't the most morally upstanding. So, whilst turning a blind eye is probably not what we want to admit to ourselves we do - that is the reality of it.

It is really a matter of where you want to direct your energies: if boycotting a company or a region of the world does that for you, then, all power to you. Expecting others to do the same, is, I think expecting too much, and not something you can castigate people for.

Nothing new in this article.

If some employees are not happy, they can resign and join an european airline well known for their great respect of employees and labor law. Say FR ?

Joke aside, it is very unfortunate that many people coming from outside misjudge Dubai. They are blinded by the bling-bling side and are not aware of its high cost.