Emirates from a 5 star Airline to an Average airline
:
Nice new Aircrafts, Good Business Lounge at Dubai, Cheap Ticket offers:
Cold food ( really cold ), the choice of the food was not available, cabin crew did not provide drinks during the flight, cabin crew was having a discussion about flights ( embarrassing ), IFE volume was way to soft in all seats.Company : Emirates Destination : Amsterdam – Dubai – Singapore – Dubai – Amsterdam Date: 07 February 2014 Plane: Amsterdam – Dubai A380 Class: Economy Class Seat: Amsterdam – Dubai 86J Flight number: EK 148 Date: 08 February 2014 Plane: Dubai – Singapore A380 Class: Economy Class Seat: Dubai – Singapore 86J Flight number: EK […]
Company : Emirates
Destination : Amsterdam – Dubai – Singapore – Dubai – Amsterdam
Date: 07 February 2014
Plane: Amsterdam – Dubai A380
Class: Economy Class
Seat: Amsterdam – Dubai 86J
Flight number: EK 148
Date: 08 February 2014
Plane: Dubai – Singapore A380
Class: Economy Class
Seat: Dubai – Singapore 86J
Flight number: EK 354
Date: 13 February 2014
Plane: Singapore – Dubai B777
Class: Economy Class
Seat: Singapore – Dubai 48K
Flight number: EK 405
Date: 16 February 2014
Plane: Dubai – Amsterdam A380
Class: Economy Class
Seat: Dubai – Amsterdam 86J
Flight number: EK 147
This article starts with lots of complains that we received about the service from Emirates over de last 4 years, complains in the Business Class and Economy Class.
Something that was hard to believe for me, but in the summer of 2013 I also had a bad experience with Emirates on our return flight from Dubai to Amsterdam.
Btmagazine.nl writes about First – and Business Class concepts, but on this flight we want to check the service from the cabin crew in general.
A Business Class passenger gets better food, drinks and an excellent seat comfort.
The service that the cabin crew provides to the business class passenger should also be given to the Economy Class passenger, if you claim to be the best airline in the World.
What do we know about Emirates:
* Nice new aircrafts including many of the A380’s
* Business Lounge at Dubai Airport is a very nice Business Lounge
* Lovely Airport DXB
So the “hardware” is fine with Emirates.
But what about the “software” the human factor ?
It all begins back in 1999, as a journalist I was invited to fly to Dubai, to learn about the fast growing airline Emirates.
Emirates invited me to explain why they would become the BEST AIRLINE in the world and how they would manage to do so.
The first of 17 new generation Airbus A330-200’s had arrived in Dubai and from a small local airline, they wanted to become the biggest and best airline in the world.
Emirates started to order so many aircrafts, the sky was the limited for Emirates, money enough.
I was invited to the Emirates Training College, a building in the shape of an aircraft.
They explained us how they would become the Best Airline in the World over the next 20 years.
The way the cabin crew had to smile, that they always should be service oriented to the passengers, avoid discussions, they way the make up had to be applied, how the emirates look must been shown.
I was impressed about the idea behind the concept Emirates showed us.
A friend of mine was flying those days with Emirates as a stewardess and she told me, we have to have a certain size for clothes, they could only work for 4 years and than had to stop.
They wanted a young cabin crew staff with a purser that could be a little bit older, but the size of the clothes was a must.
There was a maximum weight, if you where getting close to that maximum weight, you had to follow a diet and they where checking you every week.
Over the maximum weight was the end of your job as a cabin crew member and you could leave Emirates.
Till about 2005, Emirates became known as the Best Airline in the World, Emirates was proud about this and they advertised it it worldwide.
The marketing department worked so hard in promoting to be a 5 star airline, everybody in the world should remember that Emirates was the BEST AIRLINE.
Large advertising campaigns could be found everywhere.
In 2007 Emirates became too big and the service was not consequent anymore.
From a great airline they became a log and large company and lost the touched of providing an excellent service.
You can have the newest planes, best seats, best business lounges in the world, but you need the best staff to work with all the instruments.
The best staff in the world was impossible to find in such a large numbers and they had to work with less qualified staff and lowered the qualifications for hiring.
But Emirates was happy that all over the World the travellers still remembered Emirates as the Best Airline in the World.
The results from the start of the airline and lots of money used for advertisings.
But they got down grated by all the media worldwide.
They became a 4 star Airline with Skytrax and lost the famous 5 star ranking, that they always where so proud of.
As from than the Journalists where not welcome anymore, they had to protected the name from the past , Emirates the Best Airline in the World.
Many times I have asked them if I could make a special about Emirates and if I could visit the head office and Emirates Training College for a special.
Dubai returns the requests to a local PR company and they will told me, Sorry but this is not possible.
Journalists where banned.
This is how Emirates protects their good name from the past, but are the still the best Airline ?
It’s time to find out for myself, and on a holiday break, I had the opportunity to buy a cheap airline ticket from Amsterdam to Singapore and fly the flagship from Emirates the Airbus 380 on 3 sections and 1 segment in a Boeing 777
It was a rainy day on friday the 7th of February 2014 as we departed from Amsterdam Schiphol.
This time I flew with my wife and two friends, so enough input about the service that Emirates would provide.
We boarded the plane and we had a full flight.
They must have been overbooked, because a few days before the flight would leave, we got an e-mail from Emirates that it was possible to upgrade your Economy class tickets to Business Class.
The price € 537,00 a person, for only the section Amsterdam – Dubai.
Lets make some money must Emirates have been thinking, instead of free upgrades, there will always be a few fools that will pay for the upgrade.
But I think it was too expensive for only one section so we declined the offer.
I always like to sit in the back of the airplane, as you have the best option to have empty seats around you.
That is why our group was seated in row 85 and 86 near the tail section of the plane.
Before we took off, the stewardess offered us a warm soft tissue to freshen up.
The seats where great, enough space available onboard the A380 and the Inflight Entertainment System was promising with all the features.
Until a few years ago they also handed an amenity kit to the passengers, I asked the stewardess and she told me, sorry but we stopped providing this a few years ago.
The plane got airborne and we where waiting for the first beverage service.
But also this service was stopped, we got our first drink when they provided us with the first meal.
We had to wait for over 1 hour as they start serving the meal service at the beginning of the plane, row 1.
The Meal service had an option between 2 warm dishes, there was a choice between Salmon or Chicken.
My wife likes fish so she ordered the Salmon.
The stewardess told us: “Sorry but we do not have salmon anymore only chicken”.
I looked up and was not expecting this at all, the best airline of the world runs out of choice !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That was not good at all.
Anyway, fine Chicken will do for me, answered my wife.
My wife and I had the same meal and with the first bit, the food was cold.
Really cold, not even a little bit warm but just cold.
I think the temperature was bearly 20 degrees C.
The food on all the A380 flights was terrible, also on the second section we ran out of option between the 2 choices of warm meals as well.
The food on the second section was a bit warmer, but still not hot enough.
The food onboard the Boeing 777 on section 3 was much warmer.
I also notice that onboard the A380, Emirates is using different ways for cleaning you airline meals.
On one section, the cabin crew cleaned your table by taking the tray to the kitchen area, on the other two sections they placed the dirty trays in a trolley.
That was not what I remembered about the Emirates Training College.
There is only one way to clean the table they explained to us, so the service is not consequently.
Emirates for sure has become a different airline than back in 1999.
It was time to relax and listen and watch the Inflight Entertainment System.
I noticed that they have at least two different IFE systems onboard the Airbus 380.
For planes that are not that old it is quite amazing that they use different IFE systems.
For the first two sections the IFE system worked fine onboard the A380, but during the last section from Dubai to Amsterdam the sound was to soft.
Nobody could here anything, so I think the master volume was set too low.
During one of the flights onboard the A380, I was just stretching my legs in the tail section of the A380 and walked to the stairs at the end of the aircraft.
I noticed that two cabin crew members where heaving a big argument about flights onboard the A380.
The one blamed the other stewardess for always to fly on certain sections and taking here flights.
It kept going on for about 5 minutes and I walked back to my seat.
This remembered me about the words spoken at the Emirates Training College back in 1999.
Be always a professional cabin crew, you are the ounces who represent the company.
The time that Emirates earned always Gold and took lots of awards, can still be found onboard the aircrafts.
Your write Emirates with Gold letters, but Emirates is not a golden Airline anymore.
It has become an average airline with a standard service, not better than KLM and far worse as Qatar Airways, one of the best Airlines in the World.
Is Emirates still the best Airline in the World?
NO, they have become an average airline and the traveler should know that Emirates by far is not the best Airline in the world anymore.
Emirates is an average airline with an average service and a bad quality of food service.
They have great aircrafts, normally a good Inflight Entertainment System and a good Business Lounge.
If you still want to see how Emirates was back in 2000, you should fly Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways is a true 5 star airline and one of the best Airlines in the world and the Best Middle East Airline.
I am very happy that Qatar Airways soon starts flying from Amsterdam.
You should fly Emirates if you have a great ticket deal and like to fly in an Airbus A380.
Dubai is a great stopover destination, but only in the winter period.
Qantas started their joint venture with Emirates in 2013, but lots of friends who where used to make a stopover in Singapore, now have to switch aircrafts in Dubai.
In the summer it is way way way to warm for a stopover in Dubai with temperatures reaching over the 50 degrees Celsius.
SO EMIRATES, SORRY TO SAY BUT YOU LOST THAT TOUCH IN BEEING THE BEST AIRLINE OF THE WORLD.
We left Amsterdam in the Rain, but we where very pleased that we could leave the Airbus A380 in Singapore in the sun.
A flight never to remember, and my friends where not happy at all.
They told me, you where jocking about Emirates the Best Airline in the World.
I smiled and told them, they where in the past…………………………………….
