Emirates Cabin Crew Seek Revenge On Complaining Passenger

Update: See here for the latest, as the flight attendant wasn’t actually fired for this incident.

A YouTuber named “Queen MK” uploaded a video to YouTube yesterday about a flight attendant who was fired from Emirates, and I’m not quite sure what to make of it. To start, I should mention that it appears the vlogger used to work for Emirates, but is no longer a flight attendant (unrelated to the incident she talks about).

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A passenger got an Emirates flight attendant fired

According to this video, an Emirates Skywards Platinum member filed a complaint with Emirates because a flight attendant was using their phone to text while in the jumpseat, which is a big no-no. The passenger even took a video of this happening, and the flight attendant ended up being fired following the incident.

In a complaint to the airline, the passenger wanted to be contacted by high level management, and he requested that they compensate him for this incident, threatening that he would upload the video, make it go viral, and ruin Emirates’ reputation, if they didn’t.

Some flight attendants want revenge

According to the vlogger:

• Emirates cabin crew have published all details about the complaining passenger in chat groups, including pictures, his name, etc.
• The claim is that other cabin crew have had him on flights, and he is a “thief” who takes salt & pepper shakers, who asks for a bottle of wine to go so he can enjoy it with friends in Dubai, etc.
• This vlogger is encouraging people to contact the guy’s company and report him (she publishes his name and employer in the video)
• This vlogger is encouraging people to contact the Dubai police and get this guy arrested for taking pictures of people without their permission

My take on this situation

First and foremost, this guy sounds like a jerk. It’s one thing to report something you see that’s wrong because you want the company to be aware, but it’s another to do so because you want something out of it. He sounds horrible based on what we know, and there’s not much more to say there.

All that being said, we’re only hearing one side of the story.

Did the flight attendant have other warnings in the past for similar behavior, or was this the only incident? It would seem harsh to get fired over one incident, and we don’t know what had happened in the past. If this flight attendant did it this time, maybe they were also reported for it in the past. Who knows.

It also raises the question of whether we should be reporting things that go wrong at airlines with high standards? Again, this guy seems like a selfish jerk because he was filing a report because he wanted something out of it, but if you have genuinely bad service on Emirates, should you not report that either? It absolutely sucks to think someone could lose their livelihood because of a complaint, but is the alternative not helping the company improve in situations where they’re not living up to their standards?

Next, I don’t appreciate the vlogger’s attitude. “He flies for free as his company pays everything.” Ummm, airlines are primarily able to make money because of the people who “fly for free” on their company’s dime.

Also, there’s irony in the vlogger talking about how horrible it is that a flight attendant potentially lost the ability to take care of their family because of an incident so minor, but now she wants everyone to “report him for doing this horrible horrible thing,” have him fired from his job, and have him jailed, for… reporting a flight attendant for using their phone?

Bottom line

This Emirates Skywards Platinum member who complained sounds like a jerk. Based on what we know, he did this solely because he wanted something out of it, and not because he actually cared about Emirates’ service standards.

That being said, we don’t know the full story of this flight attendant’s performance record. Was the flight attendant fired exclusively for this, or was this not the first time such a report was received?

Also, I’m not sure the vlogger is being much better than the passenger here, by doxing him, encouraging people to email his company, and suggesting he should be arrested and fined in Dubai.

What do you make of this situation?