Call Button Abuse? Emirates Tells Cabin Crew to Stop Ignoring Passengers’ Pages
This post contains references to products from one or more of our advertisers. We may receive compensation when you click on links to those products. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. For an explanation of our Advertising Policy, visit this page.
Despite whether it’s polite or not — Emirates is now urging flight attendants to promptly answer every time a passenger rings the call button, even if it’s just for a refill on booze.
This information comes from a leaked memo by Emirates that went out to all cabin crew earlier this week. According to Paddle Your Own Kanoo, it read: “Feedback from our customers in the last 4 months has highlighted that cabin monitoring is not being done as it should be. Cabins are being left unattended and call bells are not being answered immediately or at all.”
The memo goes on to discuss a new policy in which call bells can only be reset at the passenger’s seat once their request has been completed, rather than resetting the bells from the aircraft’s central control unit. Cabin crew members are allegedly not happy with the memo, stating that answering every call would cut into time needed to complete service on short flights.
As is, Emirates has a pretty cut-throat reputation when it comes to managing their flight attendants. Women employees are required to wear a specific shade of “Emirates Red” lipstick, for example — and that’s just one of a lengthy list of grooming and fashion rules put in place by the Dubai-based airline.
Emirates’ new policy is also a departure from the norms set by a majority of US airliners, in which passengers are generally discouraged from hitting the call button unless it’s an emergency. “It depends on where you are flying. In the US, the crew call that button the ’emergency call button,’ meaning they only want you to use it in an emergency,” flight attendant Jay Robert, also known as A Fly Guy, told TPG. “International airlines just refer to it as a call button, or call bell, meaning during non-service times you can press it if you need something.”
A national etiquette expert we spoke to in July 2018 said that passengers should give themselves a “litmus test” prior to hitting the call button. “While flight attendants are there to make your flight comfortable, [it’s] not a service industry. They’re not waiters,” Diane Gottsman — author of “Modern Etiquette for a Better Life” and founder of The Protocol School of Texas said to TPG. “If you genuinely need assistance, that’s what the call button is for. If you’re just thirsty and the beverage cart hasn’t come yet, sit tight and be patient.”
Featured image by Rolf Schulten/ullstein bild via Getty Images.
Sign-up Successful!
Welcome to The Points Guy!
Earn 90,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 3 months. Offer ends 8/3/2022.
With Status Boost™, earn 10,000 Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) after you spend $25,000 in purchases on your Card in a calendar year, up to two times per year getting you closer to Medallion Status. Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases and purchases made directly with hotels, 2X Miles at restaurants and at U.S. supermarkets and earn 1X Mile on all other eligible purchases. Terms Apply.
- Limited Time Offer: Earn 90,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 3 months. Offer ends 8/3/2022.
- Earn up to 20,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) with Status Boost® per year. After you spend $25,000 in purchases on your Card in a calendar year, you can earn 10,000 MQMs up to two times per year, getting you closer to Medallion® Status. MQMs are used to determine Medallion® Status and are different than miles you earn toward flights.
- Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases and purchases made directly with hotels.
- Earn 2X Miles at restaurants worldwide including takeout and delivery in the U.S., and at U.S. supermarkets.
- Earn 1X Miles on all other eligible purchases.
- Receive a Domestic Main Cabin round-trip companion certificate each year upon renewal of your Card. Payment of the government imposed taxes and fees of no more than $80 for roundtrip domestic flights (for itineraries with up to four flight segments) is required. Baggage charges and other restrictions apply. See terms and conditions for details.
- Enjoy your first checked bag free on Delta flights.
- Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® after you apply through any Authorized Enrollment Provider. If approved for Global Entry, at no additional charge, you will receive access to TSA PreCheck.
- Enjoy an exclusive rate of $39 per person per visit to enter the Delta Sky Club® for you and up to two guests when traveling on a Delta flight.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
- $250 Annual Fee.
- Terms Apply.
- See Rates & Fees
Disclaimer: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.