Here’s a video for:
- Readers who think Emirates has a better first class product than Etihad because of the premium liquor.
- United, Delta, and American who claim Emirates spends like a drunken sailor on their product, despite inferior angled business class seats on the majority of their long haul fleet.
A passenger catches an Emirates flight attendant taking someone’s glass of champagne that they did not finish and pouring it back into the bottle (update: or, plausibly, a glass that was poured to offer to customers but not given to anyone). Gross.
Via Google Translate:
Accidentally fell into the frame, did not even notice at first … Drain the champagne that was not drunk back into the bottle 😳 Or this is the norm
(HT: cherandrew)
Jennifer Anniston is going to be so disappointed!
It looks like this was champagne she brought around on a platter pre-departure that no one took as opposed to champagne that someone drank from and didn’t finish. While the latter would be horrific, I don’t think I have a real problem with the former (and on some level I’m happy they aren’t just wasting perfectly good champagne).
WOW. That’s awful.
Flew Emirates first class SFO to Dubai. Asked for a glass of [Hennessy Paradis] cognac after dinner. Took a sip and, once my throat stopped burning, I asked to see the bottle as I knew there was no way that is what I was served. Oh, so sorry, said the FA, you had the last of it and I threw the bottle away already. Left a bad taste in my mouth.
I don’t usually drink champagne as welcoming drink but saving untouched drink has no problem with me, better than seeing it been thrown down the sink.
This is also a post for those who say that US airlines give bad service because of unions, and/or attack flight attendant unions in the US regularly as the cause of flight attendants doing stupid things.
Gary – dissapointed that you did put the accusing finger and tone when you don’t know the truth behind the photo. I am very certain that this she was just pouring back those pre-departure glasses that were pre-filled as PDB. I have seen this before on other airlines (not going to name them but yes also US based ones). What is wrong with this?
I hope that you will edit your post before accusing the poor FA of this (she could be penalized as her face is clearly on the photo).
Cheers!
As a former flight attendant. We have no reason to pour used passenger’s drinks back into the bottle. That is absolutely disgusting! It actually looks like she has other filled drinks on the serving cart. She could have poured more drinks than needed and simply put back into bottle as not to waste UNUSED DRINKS. Which is totally understandable!! No need to make this a headline story!
This post sadly demonstrates much of what is wrong with the media these days. We have a very brief snippet of video showing the pour back into a bottle. Gary and others assume it’s used (i.e. The glass has been drunk from) but we don’t know that. We don’t know an awful lot here honestly like what happened to the bottle when she was done.
But we default to the worst possible view and proceed to tar and feather this poor girl who quite possibly has now been fired (which in the gulf means being booted from the country sans bank account and possibly possessions) because we assume that of course we know exactly what was going on.
But finding out the truth is hard and invonvient. And not running the story because we might destroy and innocent girls life is also unacceptable because it will drive clickbait traffic to the page and we can’t pass that up no matter what.
I think we are witnessing a sad case of fake news 😉 Maybe a bit of quality control before posting, would be wise in the future! There’s enough legit BS out there to choose from.
Occam’s razor says she’s rebottling unserved PDBs. 1) emptly cabin, 2) no engine noise, 3) passenger taking “look at this awesome cabin” video. Any other conclusion would require us to assume that champagne was served to (and collected from) passengers who are either invisible or all in the loo, and that this was done before the engines had even cycled up. The simplest conclusion is that multiple glasses of champagne were poured and remained unserved due to the empty cabin.
She. Is probably from poor country. Disgusted by posing western fat slobs represented by trump that will act all rich about the champagne but count their pennies when they give their tips.
Anyway now just imagine what you have been drinking when you tinkle about how the champagne didn’t excite your palate enough, you faux bourgeois.
Seriously, guys? Nothing wrong with pouring unused champagne back into the bottle? Would you do the same with beer that sat around for an hour and still find it ok?
1. There must be something wrong with your taste buds.
2. Is anyone aware what the legal situation on the hygiene part is here?
It *is* wrong, and I’d rather have a glass of tap water than that, thank you very much.
Even if it was pre flight departure drinks
They have been exposed to cabin air it’s unsanitary and disgusting
Food or beverage once served should be thrown out
I don’t fly Emirates as the food on board is poor and flight attendants some seem to not like Americans and can be condescending
Like the airline otherwise and it’s lounges
Gary, love the blog, but all signs point to your whiffing on this one. Sorry.
Seems that that glass was a poured *but not drank from* predeparture beverage, not a half-empty, germ-laden, mid-flight leftover.
It’s a theory that the glass was poured and poured back but that doesn’t change it from being ‘used’ passengers. It’s still less sanitary. It’s still less fresh. It still doesn’t follow airline procedure. And it’s still not what I’d want as a premium passenger. Sorry folks!
Once a drink is poured it is never to be recycled. Not ok for any service, in the air or on the ground. I’m a champagne drinker and I find it very disappointing this is a practice at Emirates. Those saying it’s ok- are you ok using the glasses as well? First class seats are $$$, a unused drink, once poured needs to be discarded.
The over-reaction here is priceless.
If I pour to much at home for guests and no one drinks it I do not pour it back into the bottle, I pour it out. Germs, germs floating through the air. I guess is better off, the FA’s do not pour our drinks until we ask for it, so a lot less people are breathing on it between the pouring and the last passenger. Not good anyway you look at this.
I would pour it back in if I pour it for myself, before I was married and did not drink it I would poured it back in and drank it later since I would be the only one who could possibly be harmed,
Champagne is supposed to be bubbly. Once you pour a glass it loses bubbles. When you pour it back into the bottle it loses even more. You re-pour it and it will be flat.
@WISluggo and @Pete FTW!
For those saying what is wrong with this (especially if saying done in US) – at least in the US, and I believe Canada, UK and EU as well, it violates health codes. Yes, even if untouched.
While I agree wasting good PDB is sad, once out of the bottle, it is essentially trash.
So sorry that you posted news like this,i ve seen it countless time FA pouring back unused glass of champagne and its done in front of me as there is none to be adhamed from avoiding waste of expensive champagne.
Well one thing we’re not considering is that she maybe not intending to serve it but to stash it for her own consumption at the crew hotel later on. If thats the case I don’t really see the problem. A bottle of expensive champagne is a days wages or more in many countries…
But I agree you can’t serve it to customers, even if it wasn’t touched you can’t pour it back, once it leaves the bottle it’s used. Maybe thats a first world problem but champagne is a first world drink. The champagne loses CO2 much more quickly in a glass both as a result of the increased surface area and the increase in temperature. Not even considering the health implications, from a taste perspective it’s not going to taste the same once you leave it in a glass for more than few minutes. I even ask for a refresh once I’ve left mine standing for a bit. On a plane all the circulating air makes this effect more pronounced, if you leave a glass of water sitting for more than a few minutes it gets a weird taste.
Germs, germs floating through the air
…and striking alcohol…OMG
How do you spoiled F pax sip your champagne through those germ-proof glass bubbles in which you travel?
Oooohhhh – cooties!!!!!!
I doubt its a cost cutting procedure advised by Emirates! I assume she was just trying to be proactive and minimise waste?? Also i’m pretty sure it was un touched champagne which is pre poured in Business Class for the pre departure drinks. I don’t think she’s doing anything wrong to be honest! It was probably only poured in to the glass about 2 minutes before she poured it back in!! Whatever idiot posted this video online should realise that he/she could be costing an innocent person their job, life, livelihood etc!!!!
I used to do this too when I worked for them… Big deal, its pre poured, unused glasses that weren’t taken or touched by any pax during pre departure drinks. It was never company policy, just common sense, as a way of not wasting a $20 glass of champagne.
Most would not have a problem with this..
Now this poor girl has lost her job thanks to you. A**hole.
Gary
I feel your handling of this video has been very poor.
Having worked for Emirates Airlines for many years, seeing the waste that the airline industry produces, while visiting poor countries around the world, I probably would try my best to help avoid such unnecessary wastage also.
We as Cabin crew also ensure we promote high levels of hygiene while working.
The action of this cabin crew member wasn’t the smartest move and not the recommended procedure of the Airline itself and my heart sank when I seen your video.
I feel you could have handled this situation differently.
I.e. you could have approached the senior crew member with this issue. Instead by sharing this video you have put this girls job, visa, wage, home and lifestyle in jeopardy. Who knows what financial ties she also has and without her job may face difficulties. At the end of the day, I think it is such a shame that you have put this out there.
You will prob never even register or acknowledge the consequences of this action.
I just hope this girl keeps her job. Emirates is a dream and a hard slog to get into and upkeep and most cabin crew in upper classes as well as economy work to high standards on a daily basis!!!!
Susan (ex cabin crew)
This article should be removed. How do you report this? There aren’t any more other news to share and you picked this? THIS?! Safety video playing, therefore predepartures drinks, therefore it goes back in the bottle because no one touched it. It couldn’t be more obvious, but this is news made out of lack of anything else to write.
so this is whats gonna happen :
– the girl will get fired regardless of what she’s doing is right or wrong
– the company will not even make a statement
– Media will forget in no time
overall after this video that who ever posted this video just screwed someone’s life ( bravo )
she has no reason to poor back even if its not used, she has to throw them away,
but you idiot need attention, i hope karma will give you a lot and not just some
The guy that posted the video can be found on instagram by the name ‘kaumoff’. Report.
Uh oh, TLiT, now you’ve really gone and done it – – attracted a bunch of new flight crew commenters and pissed them off. Wait til they start scrolling through some of the other beauties here! Lots of clicks!
Everyone is offended. Hilarious.
If you saw this in a bar or a club you would walk out and never come back.
ARE you people kidding me. If a waiter serves a plate / drink to a table it CANNOT be put onto another table. how is this any different then taking the unused rolls and putting them back into a bag?
Any health dept / food safety inspector would tell you NO NO NO or you will lose your license.
Just because you do it at home does NOT mean you can do it commercially.
The sad thing is this is probably happening all the time, both in the air and at restaurants. I’ve seen flight attendants eat unate food from a passenger’s tray or give it to another passenger who wanted more food. Maybe it was truly unate, but you never really know. And we all know disgusting things happen in kitchens and in bars away from the view of customers or the cameras of customers. Has anyone ever seen the TV show “Bar Rescue”?
Why are you relating this to first class product? This is happening in the business class bar and that doesn’t appear to be a bottle of the Dom served in EK first.
(not claiming whether such practice is health compliant or not, just commenting on how folk jump to denigrate without the full story – you don’t know for example, whether any of that champagne was indeed ever given to another passenger).
And shame on you Gary for having to correct your original assertion. Irresponsible.
If this were wino quality liquor on a domestic flight, then pouring back drinks if unused wouldn’t cause anyone to bat an eyelash. But this is Emirates first class. Nobody pays those prices for their ticket, or burns the required number of miles, to sip recycled champagne.
BTW it is ridiculous to blame the passenger who filmed the video or bloggers who posted it. If Emirates trained their employees properly, there would have been nothing to film in the first place.
@121Pilot (July 13, 2017 at 8:07 am) – well said. This is clickbait.
I’m at least 99% certain that nobody had ever sipped from that glass of champagne. The flight attendant was simply trying to reduce waste. So this is not the biggest story in the world. Of course, that’s probably not Emirates’ policy. For champagne, it would be poor strategy, as the product would definitely be degraded by exposure to air. Hopefully, this “incident” causes Emirates in-flight manager to send a directive noting that the best way to reduce waste is to not pour more than you need, and not to pour drinks back into the bottle if you still happen to pour too much.
Dude, fake news.. Ok , obviously its not Emirates procedure to do this, thooough, or is it smart to do it with champange.. BuT… It is not first class, its business class lounge firstly, secondly they are not used glasses, but obviously prepoured welcome drinks(there is like three other glasses there) , and lastly I dont think she had a bad thought about this, she maybe doesnt know champange or whatever and was just trying not to waste so much of the drink.. Not smart ok, but not disguisting either.. P.s. If your gonna do this dear at least pull the curtain closed 🙂
@ Chancer
No, it’s not Emirates first class cabin or champagne product!
Imagine the outcry if passengers knew exactly what goes on behind the scenes with their food, drink, and cutlery/crockery hahahaha.
This can cost the girl her job and I am 100% sure she was doing it with het best intention. Not for herself just tried not to waste it for the company even though she wasn’t asked to do that. She obviously did not realize the hygienic point of view. You should think twice before you post smth. I wish that karma works.
Hahaha, looks quite funny. I don´t expect champange which was poored in a glas to be filled back into the botte and than to be handed out to other customers…
We don’t know what was excactly going on there. Possibly they had a bottle opened for clients and wanted to enjoy it after their work. I could imagine doing something if a bottle was almost full and i had the choice between throwing it away or taking it. As fuller the bottle as less bubbles will get out when you carry it to the hotel.
If this done to save on champange for customers, it would be a different story.
Nobody will get hurt from that and i don’t see any real hygienic reasons to not do it, its just about loosing fresh and sparkling taste. It doesn’t save the flight crew anything, plus Emirates is not really the airline which seems to need every cent. So i don’t understand why the flight attendent should be keen on that “work” instead of just storing the bottle away or throwing it away.
For all the smart people around this happens in bars and events too where they serve drinks and are untouched and unserved. Have over 15 yrs experience in the business. Why on EARTH she would do that with a used drink? Use your brain people.
I have seen that in Emirates before, it’s a shame that they charge 20k on a first class ticket and then they do something like that. Emirates treats its cabin crew very bad that’s why hundreds leave every month and they just can’t teach the new ones properly. This company is going down the drain, they have serious financial problems even there are no Labour laws in the UAE.
Jacqueline Kennedy did the same thing in the White House. To cut costs she ordered that all leftover liquor in glasses not finished by guests at functions be poured back into the bottles and unbeknownst to anyone that is exactly what the waiters did.