A word from a former cabin crew

Dear Dragana,
Thnak you so much for you inexhaustable energy and for your continous strife to provide an open platform for EK employees and management to voice their opinion and concerns.
Being an ex-CC myself through the years of 2008-2011 I saw the company going into a steep decline regarding treatment to employees and working environment.What started off as a tolerable and oftentimes joyful experience quiclky desintegrated into a farce and borderline human rights abuse, with extended and physicaly impossible to handle working hours.The on-board seniors lost their sense of judgement (what I believe their primar role should be) and started thriving on humiliation, intimidation and exploitation of the crew , doing very little themselves.I consider all those negative chages a direct result from poor comany HR management and policy.That is not to say I have not met wonderful people, I have, and to this day I remember their faces, names and the flights they made so much better.But those were more of an exeption among countless desperate employees.

To summarize my experience I would like to say that I saw most of my fellow CC friends become more and more bitter and by the time I left after merely 2 years and half of service, most of them have left or escaped Dubai.There were various reasons for our dissatisfaction, but none of them was weakness of character or imposibility to tolerate high workload and demands.It was the feeling of being disposable, replaceable, undervalued and under constant threat of punishement.Sometimes, just like Laura, I wonder :”Was it all in my mind?”.But I learned to believe myself better.I grew in many ways.I had wonderful and horrible times during my stint in the sandpit, but I am not looking back. I am generally very grateful for the chance to experience being a cogwheel in the mincing machine that EK turned out to be, to face the modern day slavery in a subdued manner upon myself and to witness it infliced in all its power to the poor souls of the South Asian labourers.I am grateful, but I will never have respect for a company and country built on bones, blood and lies.I know the wonderlust and the need for financial security that lure so many people into this job. Yes, they say the grass is greener on the other side, but there is no grass to speak of in Dubai whatsoever.

Cabin crew’s comment

I am having a very good after-life since I resigned, I am lucky enough to have found a new job as a teacher, where I feel the rewards for my effort on daily basis, I go to school with a genuine smile on my face and I enjoy being entrusted with the power to control my working process without constant supervision, sleepless nights and days and heart palpitations caused by extreme stress. I am free from the strain of maintaining a long-distace relationship and all the sadness it contributed to my existence in EK.
I do miss the cheap and affordable staff tickets, I do pay rent and utilities now and I don’t get to see my friends on the 5 continents as often, but overall it is a huge positive change. Whenever I travel, I do so with leisure, relaxation and without urgency, and I no longer have the sinking feeling in my gut when I think of going back to work.

So, if an aspiring CC is reading this, please, do your research, know what you are getting yourself into, be in the clear that joining such a company is an act of statutory support to its values (the above listed exploitaion, bullying and labourers’ rights violations) and spread this information.Our voices need to be heard, and EK’s derogatory policie must be exposed.Consider your options before becoming a part of it.

So thank you again, Dragana, hvala, i jelim ti sve naj-lepse!