Emirates CEO apologizes after Dubai flood chaos | Wilnesh News

Emirates CEO issues apology letter to passengers over weekend Historic rainfall in United Arab Emirates causing record flooding and chaos at Dubai Airport.

Hundreds of flights were grounded, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.

“I would like to offer my sincerest apologies to every customer whose travel plans have been disrupted during this period,” CEO Tim Clark wrote in a letter posted on the airline’s website on Saturday.

“We know our response is far from perfect. We acknowledge and understand customers’ frustrations with terminal congestion, lack of information and confusion. We acknowledge that long queues and wait times are unacceptable.”

While the airline’s service center at Dubai Airport remains open, “flooded roads hamper the ability of our customers, pilots, cabin crew and airport staff to reach the airport, as well as the delivery of essential supplies such as meals and other in-flight amenities.” Transportation,” Clark wrote.

he The airline said it diverted dozens of flights on Tuesday due to the worst of the storm, and “over the next three days we had to cancel nearly 400 flights and delay many more as our hubs Operations remain challenged by staffing and supply shortages.

Emirates issued a notice on Wednesday urging passengers not to travel to the airport except in emergencies. It also suspended check-in for those intending to fly from Dubai, banned the sale of tickets and stopped connecting flights to Dubai from other cities, leaving some passengers stranded around the world.

Social media was flooded with angry posts from customers who said they received no help from Emirates staff and were unable to contact anyone from the company.

“12 hours of waiting on a canceled flight, 6 hours of waiting at this counter, people passing out, fighting, trying to stay sane, and having absolutely no contact with Emirates,” one Instagram user posted. Photo showing a crowd of people in front of Emirates Airline screen at Dubai Airport. The timestamp on the photo is 7:05 a.m. Friday.

Another traveler told CNBC via social media: “It took me 48 hours to get from London to Baghdad via Dubai. Five hours on the tarmac (in Dubai) and no one opened the bridge door for one of them. I went out on my own… found a hotel and went back, waited 12 hours to board the flight and they served us almonds!

Some said they were stuck at airports for more than 20 hours, while others stranded in foreign cities and connecting airports said they had to book their own return home after receiving no help from Emirates.

Clark said his staff have done their best to cope with this unprecedented situation, and “thousands of employees across the organization are working hands-on to get our operations back on track.”

The airline “deployed more than 100 employee volunteers to care for disrupted passengers in the departure and transfer areas of Dubai Airport, prioritizing medical cases, the elderly and other vulnerable travellers,” the CEO wrote. said that more than 12,000 hotel rooms were provided to customers in Dubai and 250,000 meal vouchers were issued.

As of Saturday, Emirates’ scheduled flight schedule has resumed. Clark said in the letter that the airline still needs to return more than 30,000 pieces of luggage to passengers.

“We have formed a task force to sort, reconcile and deliver approximately 30,000 leftover luggage to their owners,” he said, adding that “it will take us a few more days to clear the backlog of reissued luggage.” passengers and luggage booked,” and asked customers for “patience and understanding.”

Clark concluded by pledging to improve the airline’s processes, thanking employees for their work and “apologizing to every customer affected by this disruption.”