Extenda

How transparent is Emirates accounting? Could they be getting all sorts of subsides from the Government of Dubai? Genuinely curious.

Thedude

So what does a Pakistani airline have to do with Emirates?

atooraya

I blame Obama for this too. Life tends to be incredibly easier when you blame Obama for everything that doesn't work to my liking in this nation.

For example, in St Louis today, the Dunkin Donuts ran out of chocolate sprinkled donuts. I blamed Michelle Obama in this case because of her fight on childhood obesity.

captjns

I guess I'll blame him for the no breadstick and cognac situation on Delta

ShyGuy

Nothing in this particular case, just pointing to one of those typical Asian carriers with strict FA requirements for sex, age, etc.

But to answer your question another way, it was actually Pakistan's national airline PIA that first operated Emirates flights when Emirates started in 1985 through an ACMI agreement.

deltajuliet

I'm still torn if it would benefit American pilots for the ME3 to open US bases. I've heard compelling arguments both ways, but is anybody really happy with how management runs things stateside? Career purgatory at the regionals, the whipsaw, the cancelled pensions, the sham bankruptcies, the decades-long decline in compensation, the reduction of profit sharing during record profits... If the ME3 really made a serious push into the United States, would the regionals be stripped of their underpaid and overworked labor force? Would the majors have to work harder to attract pilots? Would industry compensation and work rules improve? Would, heaven forbid, product quality improve for pax too?

SUX4U

Never gets old eh?

Monkeyfly

I guess Obama defenders never tire of Straw Man Logical Fallacies. They learned from the master!

Kapitanleutnant

As a guy who flies for EK, I can mention a few things here:

Shaheen is actually an Iranian Airline… and guess they're just recruiting Pakistani women or cabin crew

The Top guy at EK, Sheik (pronounced Shake) Ahmed, who is actually a pretty cool guy, has said in the past the biggest advantage he has over most other airlines is not fuel costs, but lack of a union. Unions are not allowed over here.

Fuel: The CEO of EK, Sir Tim Clarke says he pays the same amount for fuel as every other airline…. and actually this is correct. When an EK 777 flies to LHR or JFK, they pay the same fuel that DL, UA and AA would pay per gallon of Jet A. When UA, DL, Atlas and whoever else comes to Dubai, they pay the same price EK pays for fuel in Dubai. It's obvious the advantage is that many more of the our flights originate at Dubai thus getting the fuel advantage….. But what Tim Clarke says is actually true (in an obscure kind of way… but nonetheless true)

I've been at EK for 7 years and am moving on in a few months as things have gotten really bad here with so many things. It always looks good on the outside here but inside, different story. The marketing of both EK and Dubai are brilliant and working 24/7/365 to make the place look good… that's what it's all about here… IMAGE to the world.

It will be nice to work for an airline that actually has a union! Honestly, I never really needed the union backing for my time at EK, but it sure is nice to know they're there if you really need it…. but of course, not at EK.

The service is genuinely second to none and the product sold is pretty solid. I've non revved and had a shower at FL350 and had a mini suite in which the doors close to have 100% privacy… pretty nice and something that no US carrier even comes close to.

When I finish a flight, I see about 40 or so subcontinent workers (Indians and Pakistani's) come aboard the jet to clean…. yep, about 40 of 'em. They get paid what to them is a good wage for doing the job… and then send it all back home to the family in the villages of these countries they come from. To them, they've hit the big leagues. The only thing to realize is: They're paid peanuts compared to any cleaners in the US. Take that factor and multiply it many times to get a representation of how much an advantage EK has on costs, not just fuel.

When I first saw this commercial, I realized…. it's all true, every aspect of it. The US industry has become more a bus ride mentality. Cheapest fares etc. My US airline I left to come over would always marvel at the customers because they'd all spend hours and hours online getting the absolute lowest price for the ticket, saving 8 dollars… yet when they got to the airport, they'd gladly spend 12 dollars on a Starbucks Mocha Grande Double Express! Valid points….

Anyways, just a few thoughts from an EK guy who's had enough of the EK machine

Kap

The Dominican

It's the same with the majors in the U.S. when they make operations abroad....., the ramp personnel in Narita that work for UAL or DAL are not unionized and they don't make the same wage nor they have the same work rules as the ramp staff on Chicago or Atlanta....! The same with the workers at FedEx's Guangzhou base...., they don't make the same salary than those staffing their base in Memphis....

They ALL take advantage of lower wage labour where they can, look at the system for domestic flights within the U.S. If farming out over 50% of the domestic feed to regional subcontractors is not taking advantage of lower cost labour???! I don't know what is.