EK - strange CC rostering
The other day, I travelled as SLF DXB-DAC. Due to a religious gathering in Dhaka, about 50% of the pax on this particular flight were Sunni pilgrims from the Gulf area. Another 40% of pax were Bangladeshi labourers returning home.
The cabin crew were clearly not in a position to control the pax. They would not obey safety instructions, some of them were standing up and chanting prayers, and others were repeatedly trying to smoke.
Strangely, the linguistic prowess of the cabin crew (as broadcast over the PA system) was an almost complete mismatch, with language skills such as Korean, Tagalog, Serbo-Croat being offered. What about Bengali and Arabic? It appeared that only one member of the CC could actually communicate in Arabic.
Upon arrival at DAC there was further turmoil, as pax were not allowed to stand up and deplane before airport authorities had boarded and arrested a repeat smoker.
Is it not possible to roster CC to match the approximate passenger mix?