Growth poses challenges. I have always had positive experiences flying Emirates Airlines but on this trip it was very tough. It was not really positive. You cut corners. I guess that's what happened to me on Emirates Airlines.
There were many pretty flight attendants but they just were not competent to deliver service. Is being good looking enough to deliver superior performance? Does that causally co relate to superior performance? My personal answer is an emphatic NO!
The crew forgot to serve me lunch for 4 hours. No regrets, no apologies. Can you believe it was the first time in my life I was served a quarter cup of mango juice with the promise she will return. She did not till I asked her two hours later. Yet, she did not say sorry.
Pretty cabin crew but does that help deliver the brand? I doubt they understood the vision and mission of the airline or they were engaged. All that they told me in excuse was the new 777 Boeing aircraft was too big - 340 passengers and “boy, it was full.’ They regretted the flight was full. Lucky I had biscuits with me to ensure I did not die of starvation. Even if I had, I do not think the crew would have minded that. They were just least bothered.
Service recovery was even worse - I was given a bag with a chocolate box opened, razor, comb, toilet soap, sewing kit. Obviously you know that I did not take the bag.
Unfortunately I did not have a positive impression of the airline.
It WAS truly a great airline that served customers well and I hope they will revert to that status soon for I remember fondly the positive experiences. Growth certainly poses challenges, surely it does not mean cutting on the quality of recruitment, training or service.
I was following Avish's blog where he writes about the positive impressions left behind by Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett.
During our workshops on Creating Your Own Rainbow, we always talk about - beginning with the end in mind and leaving a legacy behind. Michael Jackson certainly had an incredibly positive beginning with incredible success. So did Farrah Fawcett.
Michael Jackson left behind such positive impressions though unfortunately that got later on mired up with other impressions of him. Farrah despite some challenges managed to retain the positive impressions most of the time.
The questions that we should ask of ourselves are what kind of a positive impression do we make on others? Are we growing so fast or are so busy that we forget to reflect on such important questions?
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