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19 April 2017
The global furore surrounding a video that went viral showing a passenger being dragged from a United Airlines flight in order to make room for four employees on an overbooked flight reflects negatively on the entire industry, an executive from Dubai’s Emirates airline said on Tuesday.
“It is a very regrettable incident, if you see that not just as an airliner, but as a human being, I was shocked,” Thierry Antinori, Emirates airline's chief commercial officer told Zawya on the sidelines of a press conference in Dubai.
“It is something that is not fitting to our Emirates DNA and culture. For us, the customer is at centre. Commercially, I do not know what implications it will have for United and its various partners.
“What I regretted as an airliner is that it is somehow putting a bad image for the entire airline industry which is customer centric at its core,” he added.
When asked whether the calls to boycott United Airlines would positively impact Emirates’ business, Antinori said he did not want to comment too much on that issue.
“We are not looking at the competition, we are looking at our customers and to have satisfied and happy employees with good resource and guidance to make our customers happy,” he told Zawya.
Emirates last week released a commercial video trolling the American carrier over the dragging incident, where it highlighted the various accolades that the Dubai-based carrier was awarded recently.
Antinori added that Emirates is monitoring the situation related to capacity to U.S. destinations, after the recent laptop ban on flights to the U.S. from some countries in the Middle East, including the United Arab Emirates.
“At this stage, we are just monitoring the situation very surgically, and we will take the decision that is most relevant to the company, customers and shareholders.” he said.
Further reading:
© Express 2017
The global furore surrounding a video that went viral showing a passenger being dragged from a United Airlines flight in order to make room for four employees on an overbooked flight reflects negatively on the entire industry, an executive from Dubai’s Emirates airline said on Tuesday.
“It is a very regrettable incident, if you see that not just as an airliner, but as a human being, I was shocked,” Thierry Antinori, Emirates airline's chief commercial officer told Zawya on the sidelines of a press conference in Dubai.
“It is something that is not fitting to our Emirates DNA and culture. For us, the customer is at centre. Commercially, I do not know what implications it will have for United and its various partners.
“What I regretted as an airliner is that it is somehow putting a bad image for the entire airline industry which is customer centric at its core,” he added.
When asked whether the calls to boycott United Airlines would positively impact Emirates’ business, Antinori said he did not want to comment too much on that issue.
“We are not looking at the competition, we are looking at our customers and to have satisfied and happy employees with good resource and guidance to make our customers happy,” he told Zawya.
Emirates last week released a commercial video trolling the American carrier over the dragging incident, where it highlighted the various accolades that the Dubai-based carrier was awarded recently.
Antinori added that Emirates is monitoring the situation related to capacity to U.S. destinations, after the recent laptop ban on flights to the U.S. from some countries in the Middle East, including the United Arab Emirates.
“At this stage, we are just monitoring the situation very surgically, and we will take the decision that is most relevant to the company, customers and shareholders.” he said.
Further reading:
- United under fire over 'passengergate'
- United Airlines faces mounting pressure over hospitalised passenger
- Fight or flight: Middle Eastern airlines ridicule American rival over dragged passenger scandal
- Emirates says traveller numbers from US to Iran, Indian Subcontinent slip
- What are my rights as an airline passenger?
- United fiasco puts a value on the humble apology
© Express 2017
