I note with interest your comment on another thread that "Emirates stranded me in RAK"... but by other comments by people flying that day and indeed the media, it was not in fact the airline who stranded the flight but the authorities in RAK was it not? While the delays were indeed unfortunate and inconvenient I cannot really see how they could have done anything else considering that fog/dust storm/whatever it was is a natural occurence and landing was just not possible... surely the blame should go to a) mother nature and b) Dubai Airports for the traffic management.... also you may be interested to know that a new arrivals/departure systems is to start tomorrow so we will see how that improves the situation during the 'rush hour'
Lucky your insurer covers weather-related delay- many will not.
Victor, RAK is a separate Emirate and may therefore have their own separate rules- bit like a plane landing in Brisbane instead of Sydney for some reason *may* be subject to different conditions or regulations of the State or the airport operator.
As for rostering, it's very complex operation and I do not envy them in the slightest when things go pear-shaped. As with many airlines, the cabin crew are paid a basic salary per month and flying hours are calculated from chocks off to chocks on. So I would think while on ground they were not being paid, however it would depend if the captain were savvy and had the chocks kept off a bit longer or not
Something I think passengers do not know when giving crew hell during a delay- they are standing there taking it for free!! So some people out there really should be nicer, after all the crew are just as stuck, hot, hungry and tired as the pax (probably more so since they cannot sleep during a delay)
Keep us posted on what happens, I really am interested to know how this kind of a delay is treated since weather really is something that is out of the airline's control. I can think of maybe three occasions in the last few years where this has happened in Dubai, to many airlines inc EK, FlyDubai, Etihad, Gulf and Qatar...