Not so glamorous Emirates Airline lifestyle

I’ve read this article on Yahoo Lifestyle yesterday and wondered how far can a pursuit for the profit go? And does doing business these days means only flooding the media with stories which promote your desirable image? Does any CEO or business owner today thinks they can resolve their inner organizational and human resources problems with a few positive image articles on the internet? How long before managers figure out that they cannot beat the internet because it gives an equal power to everyone, including those whose voice managers don’t want to hear?

I am not glad to see that EK managers hadn’t learned much about running the long lasting business. They are still trying to mask the problems with the old “high class lifestyle” public discourse, while their company is falling apart from the inside.

Is it that human conscience is limited with its own mortality so much that managers simply don’t care what will happen after they go, or they simply don’t know how to think in future terms? Maybe combination of both, but, in the meantime, while EK is struggling with its limited managers whose only job is, it seems, to drink Costa coffee in the HQ Costa cafe and to make sure that internet gets its daily dose of “Emirates high class lifestyle” articles, this blog will publish not so glamorous stories about the real lifestyle inside Emirates Airline.

I’ve got this story as a comment on my blog and decided to publish it as an article because I had similar health issues while I was working in EK (without health insurance!). When your employer doesn’t care about your health, I guess you have to take care of yourself and the internet can be a good doctor in the world which recognizes only money for its supreme leader.

 

“Dragna, I have been following your blog for about 2 years. I’ve resigned from EK in 2013.

I left because I felt we as crew were not treated fairly, there was no Support system we could rely on.
2012 I was diagnosed with a begnine tumor in my uterus, and after pleading with my manager to let me come home for the operation (because they wanted me to have the surgery in Dubai, and if so, I’m pretty sure I would have died,since I had complication during it), I was allowed one month for surgery and recovery.

Obviously it took more than one month, and while recovering I was stressing out, because I kept seeing flights being rostered, and, just because I hadn’t sent my doctor’s letter on time (I was at the hospital) stating that I was still in hospital and could not return.
There was no one in charge to contact directly (they were closed for Eid) and instead of being relaxed and advancing on my recovery, I was freaking out.

It was one of the most horrific experiences of my life.

Later I found out that the reason that tumor had developed was due to hormonal inbalance caused by lack of proper nutriton, rest and stress.
In conversation with at least 7 female crew, i found out that they too had had simililar problems, and had to have surgery.

My last year at Emirates I was A380 FG1, more than once I had to eat standing and while the service was going on. I would grab a bite everytime I enter the galley and chew before I took the next item of food to the customer. With On Demand service, breaks to eat are nearly impossible.

When I came back home for good, I had medical tests done and I was diagnosed with severe anaemia, not to mention that I fell into deep depression which I’m still battling with.

The good times of my EK experience were completely obscured by the many bad things that happened. Sad to say it.

Anonymous”

New Emirates commercial with Jenniffer Aniston is carefully designed manipulation

I am fully aware that every commercial, even a negative one, is still a commercial and that I am doing a great favour to Emirates by talking about their ad on my blog, but I am still going to do it just because I think that this ad represents a clear picture of EK management’s state of mind (to EK management: you don’t have to thank me!). It represents their values in life and their vision on how a working environment should look like. For all those looking to work and travel with EK, this ad is a good source of information. Watch it carefully.

This ad is like a dirty political campaign. A politician does not win elections thanks to their good programme and mission, but thanks to bashing on an opponent. If we know something about life, we would immediately recognize a dishonest man, a man incapable to create his own agenda, so he (or she) walks an easier way: he replaces lack of knowledge and skills with bashing on others. This is why the commercial is unethical and unprofessional – you don’t step over bodies (other airlines, in this case) to reach your personal goal. Or do you?

I am not a fan of snobbish attitude where someone is spoiled and unaware of other people’s misery so much that they miss a shower and a bar onboard to the point they pass out and have nightmares. Now every EK passenger in the world has the right to demand a bar and a shower, including economy class passengers, because I didn’t see a disclaimer that this ad discriminates them. Yes, you have a subtle notification which only says Emirates A380 First Class Shower Spa, First and Business Class Onboard Lounge, but it’s not a disclaimer, just a notification. Disclaimer like this, for example: Shower Spa available only to rich passengers and movie stars would not look good, would it now?

There is a hidden message for cabin and cockpit crew as well: they are subtly asked to fly one unpaid hour more (in addition to all the unpaid hours they already work). It’s just like in real life, where crew and ground staff are constantly asked and/or forced to work overtime. This is an EK management’s vision of their favourite line – “going an extra mile for our customers”: crew get to work more for free, just because someone who has money and power (at this point you can look at Jennifer as a symbol of EK management) asked or threatened them. Nevermind safety and crew’s constant fatigue. Money and pleasure of rich rule the world.

This is an e-mail I’ve got from one ex EK cabin crew:

Saw the commercial – what a kick in the face for the hard working. I flew to Europe on Delta and had a chance to talk to the crew. Service was professional, without the circus atmosphere of EK. The crew had a real sense of authority…something EK will never allow.

---

This ad is, actually, a carefully designed manipulation. It discriminates and divides people on rich and poor (clearly sending a message that EK wants only rich passengers, that it cares only for them), it tells you that you should work for free, it mocks and revenges USA airlines for EK’s recent problems with alleged subsidies and it promotes superficiality. All this through ad’s fake funny appearance.

The commercial of a neighbouring airline, with another famous actress in the main role, is really professional one in comparison with this one and a real example of an ethical ad.

Bottom line, when you scratch beyond Jen’s charm and funny acting, this is one vulgar and unethical ad on all levels. As I said at the beginning: a clear picture of management’s state of mind.

“How would you fix the Emirates mess?”

I guess that truth about Emirates Airline management has finally found its way to public. Wall Street Journal has already published an article on Emirates cabin crew’s dissatisfaction and in their newest article (“Pilot Workload at Emirates Under Question”) we can read about Emirates pilots’ discontent.

I will repeat how my intention was never to attract public attention, otherwise I would contact journalists from all over the world. My intention was to get my end of service money and an apology for being maltreated and harassed. I didn’t get any of these things so far. On the contrary, Emirates Airline managers fired a close friend of mine recently just for commenting my blog post on Facebook.

Nevertheless, as I would love to see my former colleagues more satisfied and happy with their work in Emirates Airline (which is one of the reasons why I have published so many of their stories here), in this occasion I am republishing very constructive and informative article from Update from Tom blog written by former Emirates high level manager Mr. Tom Burgess. You can visit his blog here, and this is part of his newest blog post on profit share, bonuses and constructive ways to improve current challenging situation in Emirates Airline.

Let’s assume, even just for a moment, that somebody from EK management will put their arrogance aside and read this smart article carefully and with understanding.

“Many threats can be turned into opportunities.  And Emirates certainly has a threat to deal with.  The situation has been deteriorating for some time, but a tipping point was perhaps reached last year.  The company motto, promulgated by the HR department, was simple – ‘If you don’t like it, you can leave’.  In EG-IT this was supplemented by Patrick Naef’s approach of ‘If I don’t like you, you will leave’.  Now people will choose to leave if nothing positive is done.

But this major threat could not come at a better time.  The price of oil hasfallen dramatically, averaging around a third below its expected level throughout the second half of the financial year.  Fuel costs represent about 40% of the airline’s operating costs so there should be an additional profit of around 6% this year.  Even without the reduction in fuel price, Emirates would be making a healthy profit, so this is truly a large windfall.  As always, the discussion about what to do with the profits will already be underway and I hope there is a strong focus on the problem of staff morale.

Of course, an obvious answer is to be appropriately generous with the bonus but, though I said earlier that opportunities often evolve from threats, it can also work the other way.  A single and large pay out to staff will be very well received but, unless people genuinely believe that things are going to change, a healthy bonus could be the perfect trigger for people to move on.

…

Annual bonuses can also be divisive.  There is a general acceptance that those with larger salaries will receive more cash, but I feel uncomfortable with a system that increases the percentages of bonuses for senior managers.  The argument that the more senior someone is, the more impact s/he can have on the company’s performance, does not wash with me.  That has already been accounted for in the shape of a larger salary and an already larger bonus, without the need for multipliers.

Low salaries (for some) and high staff turnover has been a strategy that has worked well for Emirates.  One cannot fault the basic principle – if you pay enough below what a job is worth and the cost of recruiting does not fill that gap, you appear to make a saving.  But this approach reflects narrow thinking.  I worked for a company that paid in the upper decile of industry salary ranges and were thus able to recruit and retain the best staff.  The efficiencies realised just from having the best staff more than paid for that policy.  There were many other benefits too, including a much slimmer HR department which could focus on the important task of developing careers to the advantage of individuals and the company, rather than wasting time on endless hiring and firing activities.

You generally get what you pay for in life.  This certainly applies to staff and ‘pay’ is not limited to money, it embraces the whole spectrum of how people are treated.  There are clearly people who ‘want something for nothing’ in this world but there is no need to recruit those, or retain them if their attitudes change.  The vast majority of people want to work hard and make valuable contributions and this mindset is significantly strengthened if they are treated with respect and honestly, and paid what they are worth in the market.

Companies, even large ones, should not treat staff as temporary, unless there is a clear business requirement (e.g. one off event) to do so.  If a company treats its staff as permanent and applies a long term approach to the relationship, that attitude will be returned.  Obviously, many of us may not join an organisation with the intention to stay until retirement, but why shouldn’t a company make that assumption when it recruits people?  What could be the downside?

So what is Emirates going to do?  Attention on a number of issues is long overdue and, with a healthy amount of money to play with, there is now the perfect opportunity to act decisively.

– The staff survey needs to published, messages acknowledged and specific actions identified (and delivered, of course).

– The Group is in need of a major restructure.  A lot of the operational areas may work well, but support functions should be pulled together and thoroughly reviewed.  Opportunities for large efficiency gains will appear endless if a detailed review of activities, including a rigorous assessment of the value they add (or don’t add!), is carried out.  I hear of claims from staff such as “I have nothing to do”, “What I do is pointless”, etc.

– HR itself needs more than a review.  It has to position itself to do the job it was always supposed to do, but rarely did.  At least it appears the problem has been acknowledged, but real action is required.

– Management levels need a careful examination.  There cannot be many people in the group (other than those occupying pointless management jobs) who believe that Emirates does not have too many layers of management.  With fewer levels, reporting will have to be more focused and accountability increased.  I have witnessed an entire team of VP’s decline to make any decisions at a meeting, saying “we will have to wait for the boss” (who had been delayed).  And I know of another VP who is described by his team members as “the world’s most efficient email forwarding system”.  I could go on.

– I should not have to write this – treat everyone (all levels, up or down the organisation) with respect and maintain dignity, openness and honesty in all proceedings.

– Phase out the profit share scheme, but make an immediate andunambiguous commitment to increase the salaries of those in real need.  By ‘in real need’ I mean those who are adding genuine value to the day to day operation and to the bottom line of the business.  This will require a newremuneration policy, one that is much more considered than the ‘as little as we can get away with’ approach used to date and one that has staffretention as its cornerstone.  This ongoing commitment will be easily funded by the savings generated by the restructures described above.  The potential for savings should not be underestimated.

I suspect that this update may irritate a few people, but I am only trying to help.  I did write to Sir Tim Clark a while ago offering a few suggestions, even help, but he did not respond.  I gave up writing to Gary Chapman a long time ago because it seems he has no interest in my views.  I do not understand why.  If anyone has a problem with me doing this, I would ask them – “how would you fix the mess?”.

Posted by Tom Burgess at 00:08“

Former Emirates purser’s testimony

“I’m ex crew batch xxx from 1996 to 2005. I’m so sad to hear how EK has become.

When I first joined , if we were delayed on board with pax, we used to get a notification of a token extra 50dhs as a thank you. We were a person not a number. I felt valued but the demise was already beginning sadly before I left.

I left as a PUR and was happy but prior to leaving , I looked to move into another role, I was just shy of the requirements. I always wondered why, then, someone with far less requirements than me, got the role? No doubt she did a great job by it was interesting that the document I prepared for the interview had elements that were used. Maybe just a coincidence?  However, it is my view that to further your career in EK,you must be in training school. Which is ridiculous as many of the crew are fountains of knowledge and have plenty of experience in other fields. This cliquey training school of who you know, must stop.

I loved my time at EK, rosters of no more than 80-90 hours etc , being treated with respect and as a person, but sadly I hear there is a lot of discontent. And for good reason.  In the good old days we could have visitors t the apts, then an isolated incident in Sahara tower and the 1am rule came in for cabin crew. Engineers , pilots , management and those in al kawakeb of course did not have to abide. The beginning of the punishment of  many for one persons actions began then ….

I consider myself fortunate to have had the glory days and am so sad to hear that EK is going down the plug hole for no reason but ill advised management who could make it the best company if they chose.“

Former EK purser’s e-mail

HR manager in charge for intimidating and firing staff in EKAS

In another, shorter, news for today, I finally found the full name of a mysterious “Karen“. The EK Human Resources manager in charge for scaring, intimidating and firing staff in EK Airport Services (ground staff). I guess Emirates has a lot of managers like Karen is, but I don’t know them.

I do know Karen, though. I have met her three times. The first time was when I had my disciplinary meeting. She was in the room with Rami El Samra (my disciplinary meeting manager) when I knocked. They told me to wait a little bit. Karen exited the room and went and Rami El Samra called me to come in for my disciplinary meeting. I never found out about their discussion before I came in, but I find it suspicious and unfair. 

Second time I met Karen it was at the airport hallway, the day I was supposed to be fired. She was walking towards offices with HR manager Maktoom Mohd. Hassan. Mr. Maktoom greeted me, Ms. Karen ignored me.

Third time I met Ms. Karen was at the same day at my line manager’s office (Gavin Elliot-Wilson). I greeted Mr. Gavin with a hand shake, and I greeted Ms. Karen as well, but she was a little bit surprised that I wanted to greet her, so she got confused with her hands and papers. This meeting was the moment when I found out that the person who talked to my manager before the disciplinary meeting was the very same person who fired me – HR manager Karen Galer. The judge, the jury and the executioner.

Ms. Karen was sitting in the office silently, while Mr. Gavin told me that my service is ended. I asked Ms. Karen where I can read about my rights and obligations after service termination, and she got confused, obviously not ready for the questions or knowing about the basics of the service termination in Emirates. She directed me to the End of Service counter in HQ.

I heard a lot about Ms. Karen Galer. I heard how she invites staff to the offices at the airport and intimidates them with close service terminations. She does it with coldness and regardless of anything that staff has to say in their defence. A the same time, if asked something about Emirates rules and policies, she doesn’t know the answers. So, her only job is to tell people that they are fired.

I was seeking for so long to find out who “Karen” is. Please, feel free to describe your experiences with her because she is, by my opinion, typical representative of an inhumane approach to employees in Emirates Airline, especially as she is working as an HR manager – who supposed to be responsible for staff’s well-being.

Ms. Karen is also welcome to comment.

Story of an Emirates cabin crew who found another airline job

“Hi Dragana!

Just thought I would share with you my Emirates experiences to use or not use as you wish!

I joined EK in January 2012 and was assigned a room in the now non existent Hamad Lootah Building. After one week (when I learned how to log in to our lovely portal) I saw an email from Accommodation stating that I had to move by the end of that week to a vacant apartment in Al Nahda in a new building, or into a vacant room.

Imagine you’ve just unpacked, you’re stressed, at Training College with a bunch of “seniors” speaking to you each day like you are a retarded onion…and you have to move, again!

Whatever, it’s just teething problems.

After two months, I had just started flying and all of a sudden my appendix burst on a flight back from Doha. Luckily my senior there was a caring, professional adult and took me immediately to the clinic on landing which happened to be closed.

There was however one doctor working late who took one look at me and took me straight to hospital where I received emergency (life saving) surgery. She stayed there with me and also contacted management on my behalf.

When I came out of hospital after a week, there was only one more week covered by a sick note. Towards the end of that week, that AWFUL telephone rang in my apartment and it was my manager Hassan el Dimassi. His first question to me was “when do you expect to be back at work?”. Nice.

I had a prolonged recovery which took almost three months. I was petrified I would be fired but I couldn’t work, and I was frightened I wouldn’t be able to do my job properly after three months off. I developed  sleeping problems.

Despite Doctor’s notes, I still had to go to Attendance Management meetings where I met Michelle Dmello for the first time. An awful woman who doesn’t care about people in the slightest. I had to have a disciplinary hearing with my new manager, AM, and HR immediately after a TRV turnaround. Thankfully my Doctor insisted on being present and she spoke on my behalf as I spent most of the meeting in tears.

During the time I had been off, I used up the statutory sick pay. After this, you stop receiving your basic salary. One month, my payslip read -500 AED. I owed EK money for being unable to work. My stress and anxiety levels increased.

Two months later, although back flying, my sleeping was terrible and all the initial signs of depression began to show. Things finally came to a head when my ex committed suicide back in my home country. I spiralled into a severe depression and could barely get out of bed. I lost a lot of weight and weighed only 46kg. I could hardly make a cup of tea, let alone serve 310 pax in economy on a day flight to Glasgow. I was signed off sick from work again, but this only increased my problems as I had these sick days deducted from my salary again.

I went to EAP and saw their head of Psychology, a local lady who was terrible at her job. Hard enough to talk about anyway, she said of my ex’s suicide “We treat people with much worse problems than you dear, inshallah your sleeping will be fine.” A great, supportive response to just another staff number who can’t sleep.

Eventually I saw another psychologist in EK, without who I probably wouldn’t be where I am today. She was nothing short of amazing. Emirates DO have the staff who genuinely care about others, but they are few and far between.

I returned to work but never managed my sleeping problems and still went to work with that awful anxiety and suffered panic attacks at least once a week. I won’t go into detail with all the Image & Uniform stuff and all the ridiculous other things you have to deal with at work with seniors and management but I never fully enjoyed my time at Emirates after this.

I met Michelle Dmello once more after I developed food poisoning in Brisbane and had to stay downroute. I had called sick too many times over the year; reasons for which she had in front of her. So, I began with the obvious which is “how do I come to work when I am so weak I can barely get myself to a bathroom every five minutes?”

She told me that FOOD POISONING IS AVOIDABLE.

Well you heard it here first. That thing that people just love to get on purpose and spend three days in agony on a drip in a hospital is avoidable. She’s a joke. When I said something to this effect in the “meeting”, she told me I had an attitude problem and needed to be careful what I said. Fear/reporting/blahblah.

You and so many others are right when you say that this fear and reporting culture results in an unhappy, unhealthy workforce. I have now moved to another airline where sadly a lot of the “office culture” remains the same but the conditions of my contract far outweigh those of Emirates and overall I am much happier….and I can sleep like a normal human being again!“

Cabin crew’s email

Another story of depressed Emirates cabin crew

I am thankful to all the EK staff who had the strength and courage to describe their experience with depression while working for Emirates Airline. Common thing of all people with depression is that they think that they are alone and that nobody feels like they do. They are also pushed to believe that something is wrong with them, especially by EK managers.

Only one EK employee can truly understand another one as we all have been through the system which deliberately tries to make you feel worthless and brainwash you to ensure that you will remain obedient and scared and do more for less.

You are not alone and your reaction to circumstances in the company which abuses its employees in every possible way while giving no appreciation for your hard work is only normal. I can guarantee that most of EK staff experience some form of depression.

As an Human Resources professional I have to say that after reading all of your confessions and stories I am deeply disturbed and sometimes even surprised by the extent of managerial indifference to the problems of their employees.

I still wear my “I love Emirates” bag and my Emirates key-chain as I really do cherish my time spent in this company. But its management achieved unthinkable levels of inhumanity and lack of understanding that only satisfied staff can ensure future profit.

As I sometimes receive disturbing messages when I mention Dubai and UAE’s economy and future plans I will not do it this time but I would like to raise my doubts in benevolence of EK management. Everyone who has a little corporate experience and education can see that their actions really do bring profit in short terms (by cutting costs on the expense of their staff’s quality of life and working conditions), but in long terms they are destroying the company from the grounds.

Managerial structure of Emirates Airline is seriously damaged and it serves only to milk the Emirates cow and let it die in the desert. As local managers should be more concerned about their legacy, their education, experience and tolerant personal culture should help them reverse current power driven and arrogant organisational culture to more humane one. If western managers are mostly there because they couldn’t find jobs in their home countries and to take as much money as they can before leaving UAE, local managers should give up on fear culture and build new team work and mutual care culture. For the sake of their still truly great brand.

Crew’s email.

“Hi Dragana,

As I’ve explained to you before, my story is very similar to the one you posted recently, and no doubt to many anonymous crew remaining silent.

I moved to Dubai nearly two years ago with the same innocent hopes and foolish dreams most of us have former to becoming cabin crew. Previous work experience helped me decipher the false advertising, constant brainwashing, not to mention lying on open days and during training (quote: “We’re the best airline in the world, if we chose YOU it’s because you’re the best as well). How ironic.

I wasn’t displeased, even after seeing the candid environment of the UAE, being of a cheerful nature. However, the constant pressure of having to be ‘perfect’ while lacking the resources to do so, receiving absolutely no gratification for a job well done, soon got to me. You can add to that stress: loneliness, long hours, jet lag, and everything else previously mentioned on this blog that most crew know only too well.

In the end, I’m just an ordinary girl that didn’t look in alcohol, sex or humdrum friendships what Emirates refused to give me: respect. And was just left with her own shortfalls. I did my best every single day, tired myself out, but still the company was telling me via flight reviews that my best wasn’t enough, my fatigue wasn’t valid and my sick days should be justified. There’s only so much a person can give without burning the candle at both ends.

One day, I was doing a flight to Rome, and spent 5 hours trying to explain to my superiors why I didn’t constantly have a smile on my face. I felt close to tears, and the horrible weight of depression that had threatened to smolder me over the past months became overwhelming. I arrived in my room, collapsed and couldn’t get out of bed for that 24hr layover. (Which seemed so absurd to me.. I was in Italy! This was my dream!) I told the company I had food poisoning as a way to get out of doing the return flight, and as soon as I got back, seeked help with the Employee Assistance Program.

That’s when the endless appointments and useless explanations began. One person referred me to another, who referred me to someone else, and all the while they repeated the word ‘confidentiality’ which I didn’t trust. So I lied. No I’ve never felt like this before, no I don’t think I need any official help, I have no suicidal thoughts, I eat and sleep properly. The questions asked resembled more an interview than a genuine desire to help.

When the last therapist I saw suggested I needed to go back to my country to get some proper rest, he gave me a week off, but my manager had to approve my return home. Although he said I didn’t have to give reasons, she refused to see me that day (Monday) claiming she was ‘too busy’, made me wait until Wednesday before an appointment, not even consenting to pick up the phone (I called her five times that day and left numerous messages both with her secretary and on her email). She refused to call me back, and sent me a short email claiming once more that she was ‘too busy’. Two days later, after 45minutes delay, she invited me in a closed off room (not her cubicle) with no witnesses, where she promptly started harassing me for details, at first pretending to be conciliate, then using blackmail. Only an hour later, when it became clear I would yield no personal information, did she consent in letting me go, explaining her disappointment, and forcing me to promise I would return that Tuesday in much better shape (or else). Papers were signed to consolidate this agreement. I was desperate and signed, although I did of course read the papers which she tried to dismiss as ‘formal nonsense’, but  had little options. By then, it was too late to catch a flight, so in total I got to spend 3 days with my family. This was supposed to be enough to recover from the nervous breakdown I could sense I was having.

Prolonging my sick days proved to be a hassle, since my manager had all but warned me that if she did let me go home, it was because I had to promptly go back to work. She assured me lots of people managed to work even with personal issues, and although she had no idea what my dilemma was, it didn’t matter. The fact was, if I didn’t get over it, I was clearly too weak minded, and Emirates wouldn’t pay me to stay at home.

The pressure intended to make me feel guilty just outraged me enough to take my own sweet time in getting better.

Emirates clearly doesn’t know how to deal with real people with real problems. Their solution is to send them home. After receiving threats from my manager, and basically hearing her tell me I should resign, it only confirmed my belief that we are just a number. Not once in all these months when I visited the clinic did they ask me what my name was (except to confirm they had the right ‘staff number’). I don’t remember any of the secretaries ever saying ‘Hi, how are you’ to me either.

As for therapy, that was a wonderful joke. After filling out more interview-like questions, the Dubai Healthcare Clinic psychologist decided that I should be on antidepressants, which would result in another month at home (by then half my pay was going into the pockets of Emirates) and further complications, including the suspension of my GCAA license.

When I finally got it back, it reads in small print that I should visit a doctor once a month. Which is entertaining when I go into briefings before flights, have my documents checked and hear the SFS say “What’s that specification on your license?”. None of your business, that’s what.

It’s been a couple of months now. I never took the medication, and I haven’t seen a doctor since November. No one seems to care. The only person that checks up on me regularly is my manager to have reassurance that I am ‘back on track’ and will not ‘let her down again’ (her words, not mine).

Anyway, that’s the whole story. No doubt a lot of people have similar ones (if they haven’t been fired for being ‘weak’).

Thanks again for allowing us to speak up, your blog is truly inspirational,

Best wishes,

xxx“

Do not fly Emirates

In the light of recent suicide of one Emirates cabin crew, I got several emails about depression of cabin crew (I will publish some articles on that in the next few days). It seems to be much bigger problem than any of us suspect, though. And I believe that it is only a tip of an iceberg as I heard stories about alcohol and drug abuse among Emirates staff. This article is dedicated to all of the EK’s staff struggling to live and work in abnormal and stressful EK working conditions.  

I had several turning points in my life. My work with Emirates was the latest one. Don’t get me wrong. I am grateful that I have worked there and gained much experience and many friends. The only healthy way to survive this life is to see its best lights and to fight against its dark ones.

Of course, you can always, as most of the people, choose not to see the darkness and not to act on it, because you want to keep your job, or because you want to have a secure life, or because you want to be rich and powerful, or because you want to believe that you are better than others, or because you have to feed your family, or because you are afraid that darkness will overwhelm you.

World problems are not your problems specifically, but we are all part of those problems. We all have our part of responsibility in it. And if you are not happy, the only person to blame is you. Reality is yours to create it. There are no other people. Others have their own realities. Your reality is yours to make something of it and whatever you decide it to be, it will be. For sure. Just decide.

By my experience, the most usual thing that people do is denying their part of the responsibility. Emirates Airline managers made their realities by lying to themselves, They are not evil people per se.  At least most of them. They are not bad people per se. They just choose not to see. And when they do see, they are lying to themselves that they can’t do anything about it, that problem is bigger than them, that “This is Dubai” and that their hands are tied by local culture and laws. But they forget that they choose to be where they are and that those chosen positions influence thousands of lives. I guess the most painless way to live a life is by living it in oblivion and selfishness. Mr. Mattar, Senior Vice President of Airport Services, probably still thinks that his staff is happy and that they can have lunch for 2AED. Now he can go home and have a lunch for 200AED. But this is how lie works.

So, EK managers have no problem to post photos on Facebook from their expensive vacations, and photos of their houses and cars/motorcycles while people they are responsible for suffer. And don’t be naive – most of the people who are abused now if given a chance to become managers, would continue the circle of abuse. They convinced themselves that they earned it. Of course, people who don’t have feelings while abusing others are not happy or satisfied people. But system is made that way. Either adjust, keep quiet, keep your head down and believe in it (and be a manager or be abused for someone else’s profit – it’s all the same at the end of the day), either be an outcast, “crazy”, unfit and outlaw.

Of course, it takes a lot of strength to be an outcast. It often hurts. Mob will always attack you because you are the reminder how bad they are.

Why would, then, someone choose to be an outcast? By my opinion it’s the only way to a personal happiness. And I don’t think that an outcast has to live outside the system. I believe that outcast can be a manager in Emirates Airline. The common thing for all outcasts is that they don’t lie to themselves and they do the best they can to make their immediate surrounding a better place.

For example, an outcast EK manager would help a depressed staff to get a proper care. An outcast EK manager would smile to their staff, would appreciate their work with small rewards or even with words of appreciation only, they don’t cost. But EK managers don’t do this even if it doesn’t cost. Why? Because then they have to be honest to themselves and to admit their responsibility for someone else’s misery. They have to be aware of themselves and the consequences of their acts. And it hurts to know that you are the part of something that hurts so many people. And it hurts even more if you admit to yourself that you do it just for the money and personal gain. It hurts less to just tell yourself this is the way it goes and to go with the flow – convince yourself that you are better than others and be an arrogant bastard.

But you know what? Everything is forgiveable because you stop being a hypocrite the moment you admit that you are one.

For example, many people asked me if I would take the money for stop writing this blog. My answer was always: depends on my mood. If I am angry – no. If I am in need for money – yes. But you know what? I am not perfect. I am not a saint. But I would always tell you that I took the money to stop writing the blog and that my fight is over and that I did what was in my power and in my hands as a mortal human being to do. I think it’s honest. You can think that I betrayed my and your ideals and fight, but I TOLD YOU THE TRUTH. What’s more important: I TOLD THE TRUTH TO MYSELF. And I am not a hypocrite then. I did my best which is much more than someone else did (don’t worry, nobody offered me money. EK cherishes money more than their image. This was just an example based on my possible moral struggle).

So, no one has to change fundamentally and to be a better person in order for world to be a better place. You don’t have to change. You just have to tell the truth. To yourself first and then to others. It would be a good start. There is nothing wrong in admitting that you are wrong. You may even continue to do wrong, but don’t pretend it’s not wrong or that you are doing good. Have the courage to be an honest bastard, at least. And at least sometimes if not always.

Finally, we came to the title of this post. My fight “against” Emirates is not a fight against Emirates. “Do not fly Emirates” doesn’t mean a call to not fly with Emirates. Emirates is just a metaphor for lies and deceptions. And the whole world is established on deceptions and oblivion. EK managers are often comforting themselves with this fact: “it’s like this in every company”. I’ve heard this phrase so many times and whenever someone said it to me I knew that I am looking at the person who is walking the easier path of self deception. And I don’t mind people lying to themselves, I mind that they hurt others. This is why I started this blog and this is why I am still writing it. Do not fly Emirates means – do not lie to yourselves.

I got over my termination even before I was terminated. Maybe even before I was employed in EK. But Emirates Airline is the first company which gave me the profound knowledge on how every false system works. Most companies hide behind human and labour rights. Some of those rights are implemented and working, some of them are violated or even not implemented. But at least these rights stand as an ideal principle which is to be pursued by human rights activists and courts of law.

Emirates Airline (as a bunch of other companies all around the world as well) is the most outrageous lie I ever encountered to. And the most inhumane one. And besides the effects on my health (thyroid gland malfunction and disturbed peace of my mind) it left a deeper trail. It left a vision of future whose contributor I don’t want to be. I am taking my part of the responsibility in building that selfish, oblivious and inhumane future. I am not frustrated (at least not that much), I am not a rebel, I am not an anarchist (primarily). I just took the responsibility for my part of reality. And now when I am a hypocrite (and we all sometimes are) I can say it out loud and by doing so – clear myself of any further hypocrisy. That is what inner peace and happiness are for me.

Fight your fights people. Don’t be afraid to stand for yourselves. Love and respect yourselves. Forgive yourselves. Take the responsibility for your lives. Enjoy the ride. No one said it’s an easy ride, but if you overcome some difficult bumps I can promise that it won’t get less bumpy, but you will start to overcome the obstacles much easier. And then you will have the time to look around you and enjoy the ride.

Writing this blog is part of my ride.

Emirates cabin crew fired for complaining to GCAA, ACAA and IATA?

According to this e-mail from one senior staff, Emirates Airline cabin crew complained to GCAA, ACAA and IATA on illegal layover length, fatigue and breach of safety rules and they got fired due to “inappropriate behavour”. Apparently, according to Emirates Airline managers, it’s inappropriate to contact international regulative organizations responsible for aviation safety and rules to complain on violation of those rules.

This is the e-mail that I have got today:

“Hi Dragana,

i hope you are doing alright..
it took me sometime to find the courage to send this email to be honest im a bit afraid of loosing my job.
anyhow, here are some new stuff been going
i have xxx godforsaken flight to JFK during the snow storm where they had only 10 hours layover…. 4 of the crew xxx decided to make an official complaint to GCAA, ACAA & IATA , the e-mail was successfully sent , read and replied to… however, apparently emirates has it own people everywhere, somehow Mr. Terry received a copy of that e-mail ????

and as you know these days he is operating ” OPEN FORUM ” same one as Anoma did which led to your termination …. needless to say  its not going well as only about 400 crews decided to show up which made him say its an “isolated problem” ( because half of them are on leave and the other are operating, which he didn’t think of ) the point is he had a meeting with those 4 crews who sent the e-mail to GCAA and guess what happened after a long lecture about work ethics and bragging about how emirates is feeding them and their families , it ended up by 2 of them being terminated due ” inappropriate behavior “   how ironic… apparently this is the reason to termainte staff when you don’t have a reason, as for the other 2 crews since they didn’t use their company email to send the complaint they were blessed by a final written warning and … wait for it ….. leave balance forfeiting … swap freeze …. no access to company e-mail… WOOOW now the manager will send them email which they cant ready and they will be terminated ….
disregarding how unethical and a severe breach of company/uae labor laws which emirates is anyhow above it, they had to accept it because of their financial problems and their knowledge that they can’t get a better or same level job back in their countries … how sad…but true..
as we speak there is another open forum is going and i’ll send you the outcome when i get it.

as for EKAS…
after Mr. walter promised to take EKAS to the new level… i can’t deny he did some improvements (THANKS TO YOU AND YOUR BLOG)
Mr. walter had several meetings with MASs and ASMs on how to make EKAS better ( for the company )
and the out come was ( as per some ASMs whom im close friend with )
1- all staff with more than 60 hours sickness are not entitled for grade.

2- verbal warning to be issued for staff who don’t comply with uniform and image standards…

3- sick reporting is now 5 hours before duty, any call after that will not be documented and staff will be marked absent ( great now i have to wake up 6 hours before my duty to see if im fit to work or not)

4- no more LOCAL LEAVES authorized by ASMs or MASs.
and yet more to come… im just waiting for walter to publish them ( i doubt it )

and hey .. do you remember that glorious day for emirates on 19 Dec where they had a record of passengers numbers ?
here is something for you about it, Mr. walter was so generous and gave all staffs who were working that day 25AED meal voucher BUT.. no time for the staff to eat, i was doing morning shift that day, and i witnessed staff who had 8-9 tasks on 10 hours shift, with a maximum break of 15 minutes ( time between gate to another) and when someone called RTC they bluntly informed the staff there is no break in your contract …..
staff were asked to perform all kind of tasks including remote departures/arrivals SAT and boarding.. and due to lack of staff that day many flights were without enough staff and some without Gate supervisors and i know some of the staff who had no GS on their flights got warnings because the flight was delayed….
how would you expect a staff who only got trained for boarding (BAMBAM) in 2 weeks to do a job that requires intensive system experience..
i can’t recall allllllll the incidents that happened with details , but you have my word, your blog will be my tongue.
eveyone (who is not a hypocrite or an ass kisser) is very proud of you and what you have achieved for us.

thank you for everything.“

Email from a senior Emirates staff

The real reason why Emirates Airline plans to employ 11.000 new staff

Emirates Airline (EK) is all about marketing and perfect image but if you scratch beneath the surface you can find a lot of mistreatment, sufferings, sad or horror employees’ stories and cruel exploitation of expatriates coming to work with this Airline.

What makes the current EK’s human resources crisis unbearable is the fact that Emirates Airline is above any labour law. It means that managers can and will do whatever they want and nobody can stop them.

When you join this company you will sign a contract. This contract is going to be violated many times (you will work more than you agreed and your benefits will be gradually taken away from you) and there is absolutely no one to protect you, your contract or your rights. I’ve checked this fact myself as I went through the whole labour system in Dubai only to get this response from a Government official: “You can complain but it’s useless”. I even went to His Highness Ahmed Bin Saeed AlMaktoum the Chairman of Emirates Airline couple of times but never actually met him as his staff doesn’t allow visits.

20% of all Emirates cabin crew resigned last year.

Up to the last couple of months EK managers felt strong enough to rule their company with fear and punishment knowing that almost nothing of it will go out to public as they have a habit of punishing staff who write negative facts about them online. This is the reason why they have threatened me with a prison as well. Writing this blog has been a huge challenge for me. I get a lot of “please don’t stop writing” e-mails so I continue to write as this blog became one of the few voices of disempowered Emirates Airline employees.

Besides this blog there are two other websites:

1. Update from Tom – a blog of former Senior Vice President  of Emirates Group IT department. The seriousness of this managerial title gives this blog the highest relevance among all of the virtual places to get to know the truth about EK management as it is written by the managerial insider.

2. Emirates Illuminati – a website of a huge group of Emirates employees – organized resistance against managerial oppresion, who are not to be mistaken for a union, since unions are forbidden in UAE. This website is blocked in UAE.

A question about bad working conditions in Emirates Airline on a professional pilots network.

You will be led to believe that Emirates Airline is a modern and multicultural company which treats its employees like gold. You will be told at your trainings that “we are the best in the world, so if we have chosen you to work for us it means you are the best as well”. Once you actually start working you will feel all the incapability and greediness of your managers on your back. You will be ruthlessly treated as a number, forced to be passengers’ and managers’ servant and if you don’t obey in any way you will be bullied, harassed and forced to resign.

It is very hard to describe poisonous and negative atmosphere which is waiting for you once you begin with your work. You will be reported for a small mistake or for no reason at all, back-stabbed, disrespected and humiliated. And if you are young and inexperienced, you are likely to lose your self-confidence and a sense of a personal value.

The point of this masquerade is to keep attracting new people to replace old, resigned, terminated, sick and unmotivated ones. EK management is very aware of the process it’s just that they are lying to the public and instead telling them the truth – that they desperately need 11.000 new staff to replace those who massively resigned in the couple of last months, they will tell you that they are “expanding their business and fleet” and that they are “becoming more powerful and successful”. Besides lying to potential new joiners they are also lying to themselves as the company is seriously shaken from the inside.

But if you read this article, which aims to attract new group of unsuspecting future staff, you can conclude that it reveals more than Emirates Airline managers want to reveal.

The National Article. Emirates Airline employs 11.000 new staff.
http://www.thenational.ae/business/aviation/hiring-spree-to-boost-emirates-airline-staff

For example:

if there are 20 new aircrafts, and one aircraft needs 80 cabin crew for service, Emirates Airline needs only 1600 new cabin crew this year (20×80). So why this article announces around 5500 new cabin crew this year? It’s 3900 crew more than they need (5500-1600)!

There is around 19.000 cabin crew in Emirates Airline currently. 3900 is simply a number of crew that they have lost last year and that they have to replace urgently. In percentages it is 20% of all cabin crew. So, one fifth of cabin crew resigned last year! Does anyone, besides EK managers, really think that 20% of lost cabin crew is a success, especially if we take into consideration that 130 pilots resigned in the past three months?

A simple calculation from PPRUNE member

You can follow up on this story about 11.000 new employees here and you can read more on Emirates working conditions here.

Good luck with your new employment.

____________________________________________