Service, Where Art Thou?

Sitting down with Rishad on his really comfortable couch last night, I could hear him chuckle as I mentioned travel. He is a man that has traveled the world for business and pleasure. He does shipping and his work spans continents so for him and his brother (partner in the company) it's a part of life. In fact, when I said to him ‘you must travel a lot’, he chuckled even harder.

“At one point, I did about 15 flights a month!” Short,medium and long-haul you name it, he’s done it. It has become a very natural activity for him that it doesn’t scare him anymore. He is not scared of flying, he is just annoyed by complacency, slacking off; just plain smug behavior across different aspects of service, security and safety - he expressed as a result of a recent experience on Emirates from India (where they missed checking some people’s luggage). He hates the racist stereotypical experiences that he has had just because he has a beard. That’s the biggest drag; but then again that’s always better than slacking off and putting his life at risk.

“Travel has made the world a smaller place”

He takes travel for granted. He feels it's as easy as hpoping into a car and driving away as he has done it so often. He is a stickler for perfection; when some small error happens, he sends his rockets flying. He is a very pleasant man, otherwise. It's just that he strongly believes that when you pay top back, its irritating when you do not get the service you deserve. “I hate it when you get these air hostesses, that are arrogant, they act as though they are doing you a favor, like on BA. I am doing them a favor. That’s just crap service.”

120 days - 76 flights - 34 on Emirates
That’s just an example of how often Rishad and his brother tend to fly. “I can afford to fly first class and I do, simply because when flying on business and having a few hours to spare before a meeting, I need to be comfortable. So the least I expect when I fly this often, is better service.” He prefers private travel, in fact if he had to put all the money he has spent on all his flights, he could have easily bought his own private jet.

Emirates is COMPLACENT!

This is the general feel. They have become too large too soon and the crew simply can not cope with the expansion. “They have got a fancy new airport, yet they would still park a plane at the other end of the old airport!! and you have to walk miles.”

They are NOT as SERVICE oriented anymore!

They are taking passengers for granted - at least Rishad feels they've taken him for granted. For someone who has accumulated on Emirates close to 2 million miles!!!! there is no sense that those miles can be used as he wishes. Or at least a higher form of exclusivity than others. Flight of choice, upgrading to first class (sorry sir, no seats available sir! when there would be if bought at revenue). “If I ever complained in the past, emailed Brian LaBelle (SVP Skywards), he’d reply, now he doesn’t even bother.”


If a person who flies first class that often is complaining, we can only imagine what economy class Emirates passengers would have to say!

How basic can service be for an airline that once rose to the top? It seems simple yet people wonder what has happened at Emirates to make it lose that charm of being humble and ready to serve you. The whole quality not quantity.

PRESS STOP, FAST REWIND -GO BACK A FEW YEARS

Emirates can not have the attitude of - ‘don’t care' - because at the end of the day the people who have, are and will travel with you, make you who you are.

We talked about what Emirates needs to do:

Simply remember where you come from, respect and acknowledge the people who have helped and supported your success rather than take them for granted. “They are gonna chase me away real soon. I don’t want them to speak to me, I want them to act.”

Emirates is seen as a large beast, whose greed has reached record highs. The general
feeling is that they would keep their planes as long as possible in the air to make more money.“Several times have been on flights where I have found crumbs in between the seats. They have no time to clean the plane because it's not grounded long enough.”

Forgetting the details is causing people to be turned off. Details can make or break a flight. They can build or destroy a relationship, because simply: LOVE IS IN THE DETAILS. AND FOR AN AIRLINE, ITS IN THE SERVICE -ALL ASPECTS OF SERVICE ON THE GROUND AND IN THE AIR.

“I have to run after them for the things that I want. They don’t come to me with their service.” This is not just Rishad’s view, but the view of many people who we have spoken to over the last couple of days. It seems as though Emirates has lost the plot, forgotten its vision, missed the point, neglected the basics etc etc.

Things people have said...

Arrogance is creeping in!
over promising - under delivering!
Think too much of themselves.
Demanding respect instead earning it.
It has the character of a monster!
Its Alien - From another planet - does not relate to people and what they want!
Impersonal to many.

In the end, people will come and go, travelers will change, technology will creep in more and more. Yet no amount of technology, new planes, fancy airports, will ever change service.

Service is human. It can not be replaced and it needs to be paramount.