Flight attendants on Emirates have been ordered to stop ignoring passengers when they engage the call button.
Unlike its U.S. counterparts, Emirates welcomes the uses of the flight attendant call button for both service requests and emergencies. When you press your call button on Emirates, even if it is just for a drink, FAs are supposed to promptly answer and accommodate your request.
But that has not been going on lately. Instead, flight attendants have been ignoring the call button.
In a memo obtained by Paddle Your Own Kanoo, Emirates warned its flight attendants to stop ignoring the call button:
Feedback from our customers in the last 4 months has highlighted that cabin monitoring is not being done as it should be. Cabins are being left unattended and call bells are not being answered immediately or at all.
Cabin crew have been reminded that they must answer “call bells” immediately. Furthermore, onboard supervisors must ensure that flight attendant presence is “consistently maintained” in the cabin. Flight attendants are also no longer allowed to reset passenger call buttons via a central control unit. Instead, the FA call light can only be turned off at the passenger’s seat, after the request has been addressed.
Mateusz Maszczynski, the author of the story, is an international flight attendant on an unidentified “Middle Eastern” carrier (my guess is Emirates). He added:
On some flights with a certain passenger profile, you might not hear a single call bell go off, on others it’s as if they are trying to transmit Morse code.
Emirates cabin crews are not happy about the memo, arguing that on shorter flights there will not be sufficient time to complete the service if every call bell must be answered.
CONCLUSION
I appreciate so much that on Emirates you are encouraged to use the flight attendant call button. At the same time, I understand that many (“with a certain passenger profile”) will use the button over and over again for trivial matters…and that is annoying.
Personally, I won’t use the call button — especially in economy class, but even in business class — unless I really need something. But the old adage, “It Might Be a Coke, It Might Be a Stroke” is true: FAs cannot succumb to the “boy who cried wolf” syndrome.
Finally, it is worth noting that even with its “slipping” service levels, Emirates is still likely miles ahead of carriers in Europe and North America, where call buttons are routinely ignored.
@ OK, so what race is the offending “profile”?
My guess would be India.
My wife previously worked for Emirates for 5 years. I can tell you it’s definitely Indian passengers.
Emirates service levels are slipping? I haven’t noticed.
I wonder if they would answer this call –
https://st1.latestly.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Jeff-Lin-Facebook-784×441.jpg
If it is not an emergency or necessarily things to push a botton call, it would better not to call the attention of the FA. Unless you are very thirsty and you need water or about you are nol feeling well that you seem would be sick etc.
This mostly happens on asian sectors.
If there are not sufficient crews on board to handle multiple requests then the airline is at fault in placing the required no of head counta
I agree, I wish all carriers were this up front about encouraging customers to use the call button. That being said, it would be great if there was a way for the notification “ding” to go off in the galley, or say to the head FA’s mobile device rather than for the entire cabin to have to listen to. I’d like to see an extension of the old Virgin America seatback ordering (I think) where you can just punch in a drink / food request at your seat and have it brought out to you.
Flight attendants are there to save people lives first and foremost. Service is secondary. We’re not glorified waiters.
Let me guess @LB, ex – Continental Airlines?
Do your secondary service properly
Or current Continental Airlines FA…
@LB: and since 99.999999% of the time, a flight attendant is not doing much in the way of saving lives, suddenly tending to that call button shot up in priority!
But even then, you still would not be a “glorified” waiter.
You must be an emirates fan
Yes @LB, however crew are not saving lives 99.9% of the time therefore service cannot secondary.
ITS A JOB AND WE ALSO DO OUR JOB.!!!
You just hit the nail on the head. Thank you !
I want to work as a flight host
I cannot agree less. The service was slow and rather poor on my flight from SIG to MEL. They can certainly do better.
THUMBS UP for SAUDIA flight crew specially flights from Manila – Saudi and vice versa ,I noticed the crew did their job accordingly and exactly like the memo sent by Emirates to their flight crew staff regarding call button response and not only Emirates airlines doing this I had an experience in Qatar airways I used the call button to ask for a glass of water but no one came to assist me.
@Mathew (writer of the article)
Where do you get crap like that. Yes, even in the US we answer the call button for drinks and other service requests. We don’t purposefully ignore calls either, most of us don’t, but there are times when we are not allowed to get up either, and we’re not going to put our safety at risk for a drink.
It’s annoying when wannabe journalists make up stuff to fill holes in their ignorance.
Oh, I don’t know. Maybe I get my “crap” having flown three million miles over the last 15 years, mostly with U.S. carriers…
Good job explaining the service in airplanes, is not necessary to press a button for crap not needed as a glass of water, could you wait for a FA to come by and ask for it? darn if you don’t.
Another thing is because the airline serves a higher level of people doesn’t mean the FAs are waitresses or waiters to fetch stuff you can wait for.
The only time I’ve ever used the call button was when I was child and thought it was funny to make the FA’s come over and then pretend that I didn’t know I pushed it.
Otherwise, I’ve rarely seen anyone use it and rarely seen the crews ignore them.
Im vaiting for my Mango juice
Emirates attendants do ignore call buttons even on long flights when they are chatting at the galley service has deteriorated
Do you not get a break at work?
Cabin crew need their break as well and most of the times people think they’re in the galley chatting around, they are preparing for the next service, doing paper work ect .
In our recent flights to Dubai, Delhi and back, we noticed that the attendants take too long to clear the tables after serving meals. Passengers seated on the inner seats cannot move until the utensils have been cleared off. I think this is anither area that requires improvement.
I too agree, they even miss giving meals, then direct serve water.
Well maybe because they’re too busy answering useless call bells and kept on getting interrupted to continue a proper service flow. Think about that.
You need to think outside the box. One crew has to serve at least 50 passengers which takes time and for clearance they have to prepare carts for it.. clean yo the galley before they go out back into the cabin.
Instead of judging maybe you need to be a little more patient.
Oh not to mention passengers who delay them because they keep asking for extra things and some people are so selfish they go to the galley to give their trays which also delays the crew from going back out to the cabin.
PATIENTS!
There is about 400 passenger and about 6-8 FAs working… so of course the service is going to take some time… it’s not a restaurant it’s an aeroplane.
I recently flew with Delta and saw they did respond to call button which was a genuine emergency.
Personally I don’t use call button and prefer to walk up to the rear for drinks.
For me call button is like an emergency button in the disabled toilet.
That’s right, not because a FA is working in an airplane becomes your personal server.
Take your behind up and do some little walking in the airplane too.
Some people need to ease up on what it is needed and what’s a want. Your mango drink will take second place to a person who needs physical attention to go to the bathroom.
But some people think they are first priority and those bells are there for their personal amusement,
Emirates service is falling sharply. Myself and family was always travelling in Emirates for the past 15 years. Now started looking for other options.
Even in Business class on Emirates you can go for long periods of time without seeing a FA. They are usually hanging out chatting among themselves. Fortunately on the A380 you can go get a drink yourself. I can imagine the service in coach being worse especially with the number of people in coach. Unlike SIA or JAL the flight attendants on Emirates act indifferent.
Genuine question from someone who doesn’t fly long-haul as much as they want, how are you supposed to call FAs without using the call button?
Btw I did use the call button once, on a Swiss night flight, when I started feeling weak and shaky (probably low blood sugar). I got the window seat and the people next to me were sleeping (most of the other passengers seemed to be asleep too) and there were no FAs around to be seen at that moment. Lucky for me an FA immediately came and brought me something to eat. If there had been no call button I think my options would be either crwaling all over my plane mates or yelling to get attention and wake up everyone around.
In your case am FA would be more than happy to help and assist. Some people abuse the call bell for unlimited amounts of drinks or they’d ask for tho ha one at a time rather than asking for it all at once.
We’re not saying don’t press the call bell for things but to avoid people pressing to ask for water we’re comsta in the cabin giving out water and food is served at a certain time.
But good educated people should behave….if u have millions of requests and it looks like it’s not the Airline but u have hired ur own flight attendant…then that’s wrong…get up from ur seat….have some shame of asking million times be kind…look around the flight attendant can’t just focus on u
These kind of people flying nowadays they get the flight attendants to confuse with emergency calls…
In this case German& Japanese people are best civilians to learn something from them…
Let’s considering the fact that staff at Emirates have been denied a profit share (despite over 2 billion in pure profit and a 500 million bonus for the boss) and also had any hope of a pay rise dashed, current pay is below inflation as it stands. Why would anyone do more work for what equates to a real term pay cut when it’s their direct work within the company that brings in the money. Fair play to them I say.
I used to be a Senior Flight crew member with Emirates and I can assure you that EK crew are stretched to their limits on flights due to there only being the minimum amount of crew rostered onto flights. How about you give them a break, get up off your backsides and stretch your legs? And yes this type of behaviour is mainly seen from entitled passengers originating from the subcontinent. Fact.
Emirates service is falling down or I say there is no service. We don’t want to travel in Emirates.
Ah, a company which made AED2.3b profit in 18/19. Gave its owner 500mil and zero bonuses to its employees as it did not meet a target to AED4.5b set for the year. Round of applause .