[spudseamus]

I;m with you RicH 100%

[Danwolf]

I’ve only had an equipment change once in my years of travelling a month ago on Oman air. A local office rep called to advise that they had to switch to a gulf air plane (gulf air crew, etc). I was given a choice to either stay on same plane or change ticket around to another flight. The woman was helpful in securing one of the gulf air ‘sleeper seats’ (I.e. flat seats not angle lie flat, as their J is a combination of both) – not sure if it helped that I had status (and mentioned it).

I know WY is a smaller airline, so something of this nature may be less of a task, but I think the key thing here is service and service recovery. Ok, an equipment change might happen, but the key thing is how they handle the situation.

Generally speaking, we don’t care what type of plane we are on, more the seat product (in J and F more, Y I suppose in most cases the seats tend to be more generic than inconsistent J and F products on many airlines).

Saying that, I will pick and choose who I fly and what routes dependent on what hard (seat) J/F product is available – never a route with old J or F on BA (note: if flying J and offer to upgrade to F, I decline old F), etc.

[ToxicAir]

In order to get the thread back to its focus, please refer to the original opening entry. We all appreciate that airlines have to change aircraft type for operational requirements. Accepted.
Thus EK have done this with notice to its pax where possible (though there have been some slip ups!).
It is when the CEO then makes a statement to Bloomberg in the 22nd March Interview that there should be compensation or a gesture to those who had bookings originally on AB380’s but were changed. Either substantiate the offer by communicating to your airline staff or directly to the Pax affected.
EK has done neither.
Thus the credibility of the CEO is held in question. (Loose Cannon on deck !)
And if the CEO was quoted out of context or misrepresented, I am sure that EK have a sufficient large & professional PR department to handle it with a new statement or correction. Again nothing as EK are trying to bury this one !
…. Perhaps he should not talk with Bloomberg if he cannot trust their journalists, but rather speak to Reuters or other news service!

[GulfSelfLoadingFreight]

Still waiting for any communication from Emirates on this matter! Think EK still trying to bury this one ………

[poisonedcabinair]

Skywards are stating that they have nothing to do with this, even though members are supposed to be provided with Skywards mileage as compensation! Instead they are passing all queries to Customer Affairs, who are not commenting on the matter! Very shoddy ! C’mon Emirates communicate clearly the situation to your customers!

[GulfSelfLoadingFreight]

Tim Clark is keeping his heaed down on this one ….. there has been no communication from the airline as to their plans as to how they intend to provide either points or cash as compensation. The credibility of the airline of both Tim Clark and the airline rests on fulfilling their public statements! The airline is pushing its AB 380 programme hard and wants an all AB 380 programme to and from LHR, so its time for them to meet their pronounements to its customers.

[poisonedcabinair]

I am being informed by a source that the PR group for Emirates have claimed that Tim Clark’s remarks were taken out of context. If that is the case then why have we not heard from Emirates with a retraction of the interview or denial.
We have heard neither, which seems extraordinary from an airline that has an enormous profile in the avition indsustry and a Public Relations department with appropriate budget to ensure that an accurate and fair reflection of its CEO’s remarks and reputation is kept intact!
I would suggest that they have failed in their duties by representing Tim Clark’s remarks as being’ out of contex’t so long after the interview.
It does not reflect well on the airline in my opinion, to be now ducking and dodging an admission & undertaking by the CEO!

[SwissExPat]

I have had 4 aricraft changes on EK in the last year. [mentioned on another thread in this BT Forum].

Always concerning the private suites in F although it was always the case that a 777 was involved, never a 380.

Once EK did nothing and I did ask for some miles as compensation but NOTHING.

Another time I was moved to a 380 from LHR rather than LGW. [as an aside, when EK were offering different products from LHR and LGW, I noted during a booking process that the seats in F differed by approx £250 per sector if it was a380 suite as compared to a 777 non suite flight. Also on the EK booking page, there is always an indication if the aircraft offers private suites in F]

The Third time, I downgraded myself on entering the plane and did received the miles back which I had used to upgrade. Thankfully I had used miles and therefore the refund was easy to compute but I shudder to think how I would have gotten real Cash back given the complexity of ticketing structures.

And finally on the 4th occasion of a change, [and I am being balanced in this comment] I had expected a normal 777 skycruiser deat in F and on entering the plane, the F cabin was private suites i.e an aircraft swap had IMPROVED the product offered.

I believe Mr Cook is absolutely right to suggest that PAX get some refund/gesture if an inferior product is substituted.

If you booked a exec room in a hotel and arrived to find the Hotel had overbooked or had some incident that made your booked room unavailable, you would be immediately compensated in that you would pay the lower room price.

Same in a restaurant, you order a fine bottle of wine for x and the waiter comesback and says it is sold out you’d only pay for the wine ou drink! How is it that the Airlines can avoid all these ‘Norms’. It comes down to the fact that they already have your money.

The CEO of EK acknowledging this is very welcome and it would be a pity if this was buried. If EK can lead the aviation world in aircraft purchases and services [When their product works it is unsurpassed at the moment] can they not also lead the world in steepping out from the crowd of ‘deny/delay/dont pay’ merchants that hide behind ‘Terms & conditions’ ?

In terms of their revenue hit in say giving affected PAX way 5,000 EK miles, it would be completely negligble.

[GulfSelfLoadingFreight]

Hear! Hear! Well said …Swiss Expat…

[SimonS1]

I completely agree some gesture is in order.

However Tim Clark is not the CEO of Emirates, he is the ‘President’. I’m not sure what is behind this title, however those of us who have worked in large organisations know that from time to time people in that type of role are prone to make (usually innocent) gaffes when put on the spot.

It sounds to me like Emirates are trying to distance themselves from the comments. Phrases like “taken out of context” are often uttered by politicians and are generally code for saying it wasn’t his role to make such promises.

In other words you are flogging a dead horse really.

[DXBSelfLoadingFreight]

Letter and response from Emirates in the BT September issue:
NO COMPENSATION
In March, Tim Clark, chief executive
of Emirates, made a statement on
Bloomberg regarding the need
to compensate passengers who
had been moved off A380 flights
to other equipment owing to
wing inspections. However, since
this was reported on Business
Traveller’s Middle East website
[see businesstraveller.com/tags/
emirates, March 22], there has been
no mention by the airline about their
intentions. I believe its customer
affairs are trying to bury this story as
they are embarrassed by it and the
implication that they may have to
provide either cash or points to those
passengers affected.
Do you not feel that Business
Traveller should be following up the
status of this story on behalf of the
readers? Several of us have been
affected by this and I feel Clark is
being disingenuous in suggesting
that there is compensation and then
not following up on it. If he feels
that the comments were taken out
of context or are incorrect, ask him
to retract the statement and talk
with a reputable journalist such as
yourselves on this matter.
Michael Stokes, UK/UAE
? Emirates replies:
We apologise if a newspaper
article may have reported Mr
Clark’s remarks out of context;
however, Emirates’ conditions
of carriage apply. Emirates
operates one of the youngest
fleets in the industry, having
recently taken delivery of new
B777s and A380s, and does not
guarantee a particular aircraft on
any given route.
While we understand the
excitement generated at the
prospect of flying on the A380,
we do not provide compensation
when we change an aircraft, and
believe the excitement of the
overall Emirates experience will
please all of our customers.

[SimonS1]

In other words the game’s up and it’s time to move on. Vote with your feet if you wish.

[Author]

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