I’m happy with my Jan roster, it also came out Xmas Eve (early) I get to go to Singapore, even though I’ve been before I’ve missed my ‘Singas’ trips!

Hey man!! Merry Christmas!! I see you have a BHX layover at the end of the month.. I lived there for 3 years… and the only advice I can give is to go to the Bull Ring.. when it was built a few years ago it was the largest indoor shopping centre in Europe.. lots of cool stores.. besides that, Birmingham is a dump!! Anyways.. enjoy your holidays!!

If you can actually get onto the portal! Been checking my times through Evita, portal’s a pain at the moment!

I’m take you JNB night stops if you take my 3 Nigeria trips (1 x ABV and 2 x LOS) :p

There is such a dislike for sectors like Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Mumbai, Chennai and other such as these, that you can actually see the service standards slip on these flights when compared to the service on other sectors served by the same airline. I noticed this when I flew Emirates! The London-Dubai-London was great, but Dubai-Karachi-Dubai was horrible. However Emirates is not my favourite airline (sorry Airboy).

I know that passengers on these sectors can be very demanding, but hey they are just as good as passengers on any other flight so treat them like any other. Just think it as a bad day at work, we all have them, but you don’t slack at work, you just continue to work as hard, and the same can be said on a bad flight. Besides these sectors are so short, that in a blink of an eye one is back in Dubai after that what might seem such a horrendous turnaround.

Other airlines like Malaysia Airlines (my favourite, two thumbs up) does not let the level of service detriorate on any sector. I flew Los Angeles-Taipei-Kuala Lumpur and the service was simply outstanding, and that too in Economy!! And then I flew Kuala Lumpur-Karachi (which extended to Dubai) and the service was just as amazing. Genuine smiles and warm service from the heart! And when the level of service is consistent on every sector, on every flight that is what distinguishes one airline from another. Keep service levels consistent on all flights, on all sectors and that my friend is what makes a great airline, and truly service from the heart.

Airboy I do surely hope you will post this message of mine.

Hey Airboy, thanks for posting my comment. Now I know you just don’t post comments that you enjoy, but post all of them. I think I can realise that is how you treat your passengers too, everyone one of them is special to you!. I bet that is what makes you a truly great FA!!

Regarding the previous comment comparing a Karachi to a London, having done my fair share of both I honestly do not recall ANY crew ever slacking off on a Karachi. The company has a completely different service for a Karachi (a short haul flight) and a London (medium haul flight). You simply cannot compare one or the other. One has a flight time less than 90 min, the other can be close to 8 hrs at times. One has a language barrier for many crew, the other doesn’t. As much as we’d love to chat one on one with many of our passengers, flights such as Karachi simply do not allow us the time to do so.

Why you see many crew lament at being rostered flights such as Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Mumbai, Chennai etc is not because of the passengers, but because these are energy-sapping, mostly red-eye turnarounds without a chance for crew to explore that city, earn the per diem and re-charge the batteries. Calcutta, which is also a South Asian destination and also has a similar passenger profile as those mentioned earlier, is a layover for us, and a flight thoroughly enjoyed by many crew, so much so when I was a Grade One only managed one flight after 3 months of bidding.

London is also a notoriously demanding flight, and is not called Deathrow for nothing! It is also the flight that seems to get more stressful the higher class you operate, so enjoy the time in Y/C while you can!

Mel, I can only say bravo, bravo. Perfect woring here ! As much I’d would of loved answering your comment Marco, I for some obscur reasons couldn’t get round the “moderating” my own words part of thoughts (does that make sense?). As you will understand M, I have edited some of your words, and deleted one sentence… I did so because I know for a fact that this blog is being monitored. I completely agree with Melissa’s point of view, I wanted to share the same thoughts, but she is way speedier than I am regarding keyboards !!! It is nice to see a passengers point of view on the matter as well as crew’s. I also understand why you feel a huge difference between the two sectors. Hopefully Mel or myself could serve you on a Karachi/Chennai/Bombay/Islamabad one day and change your mind.

Peace. (lol)

Wow I get responses from both the King and Queen of the EK blog spots!! Melissa if you must know, your blog was the very first one I had been reading for the longest time, and then I found Airboy’s.( I think it was when Airboy interviewed you). Love reading both of your blogs and don’t stop blogging!! I get to see others leading the life I only dreamt of as I always wanted to be an FA myself, but that never happened. Thanks Airboy for offering to serve me on one of these flights. But by the time I do travel again, you’d probably be up front working with Melissa in First ( actually Business on these sectors)

Now coming back to the Indian Subcontinent flights, I agree because the flights are so short and usually have a fully loaded 773 with over +300 passengers to feed in less than 2 hours, service is rushed and might actually seem unfriendly and as you said Melissa, leaving you no time to chat one on one with the passengers. I have to also stress again that passengers on these sectors can be very demanding and that might add to the stress of the job. I sometimes sit in my seat and shake my head when they stop a FA to ask for the silliest things. Believe me there are some passengers that actually symphatize with you when you have to undergo this. There are usually Urdu speaking FAs on board so the language barrier should not really be a problem but then with so many passengers on board you can’t really get to speak to each one in a communicative language.

However there was this one FA who I saw on the DXB-KHI and then again on KHI-DXB who was stellar in her perfromance. I introduced myself to her on the outbound and told her I had seen her before and had even photographed her and some other FAs. (Unfortunately the album was in the hold to show her). She immediately took the time to give me some souvenirs and I thanked her immensely. I could not let her service go unnoticed that before landing I took the time to write a customer appreciation note to Emirates, and asked her for her name so I could add it in the note (It was on her badge too, but it’s better to ask, so the FA is aware) I then asked her to forward this to her supervisor, thanking her at the same time for the wonderful service. Not sure what became of it but I wanted to share that despite the hectic service, there was an FA that actually did a brilliant job. The others did too, but this FA definitely seemed to go out of her way.

It might be approriate to actually share that trip report here, if you will allow it Airboy – http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/605832-ek-600-dxb-khi-ek-601-khi-dxb.html.