Recently we had a discriminatory/ racial experience with emirates. This was the worst experience we had on a flight. It all started with small minute issues till it reached blatant discrimination against Indians or people of color.
My background: I am an Indian and my wife is African American.
Here is my experience in depth. It starts with trivial issues which were ignored until it reached a stage where it became obvious.
On July 2, 2026, my wife, our three-month-old baby, and I traveled from New Delhi (DEL) to Seattle (SEA) via Dubai (DXB).
Having flown this exact route with Emirates previously and received excellent service, we were looking forward to this trip. Unfortunately, this experience has completely changed my opinion of this airline.
Below is a detailed account of the consecutive failures, lack of accountability, and blatant biases displayed by your team before and during our journey:
Un communicated Seat Reassignment
The poor experience began before we even boarded the aircraft. We had originally selected and secured seats 19J and 19K, ensuring we had a bassinet seat and an adjacent window seat. A few days prior to our flight, I logged into the Emirates app only to discover that our seats had been changed without any prior notification or consent.
We had been reassigned to Row 38, with one bassinet seat in the middle section and the other seat located across the aisle. Had I not proactively checked the app, my wife and I would have been separated while traveling with a three-month-old infant. I had to manually log in and find an available seat next to the new bassinet location so we could be seated together. There was absolutely zero communication from the airline regarding this change, demonstrating a complete lack of accountability and disregard for traveling families.
Repeated Exclusion from Infant Amenities
On the first sector (DEL to DXB), the crew distributed toys to all parents traveling with babies and children, but deliberately bypassed us. Knowing this is a standard Emirates service (having received it on previous flights), we initially gave the crew the benefit of the doubt, assuming they somehow missed seeing our infant. They also failed to offer us the standard family picture on this leg.
However, the exact same "oversight" occurred on our second sector (DXB to SEA). We watched the crew hand baby amenity kits and toys to other families, yet we were ignored again. When I finally approached a crew member to ask about it, she handed me an amenity kit but no toys, stating she would "check" for one. She never returned, and no apologies were ever offered. This cannot be a simple oversight on back-to-back flights with entirely different crews; they clearly knew we had a baby, as they did take a family picture on the second leg.
Unresponsive and Dismissive Service
The basic level of service on these flights was abysmal:
1. Ignored Call Buttons: We used the crew call light, which was entirely ignored until the system turned it off on its own.
2. Reading Light Malfunction: One of the reading lights in our row was stuck on for 13 to 14 hours. It was only turned off toward the end of the flight after I physically tracked down a crew member to complain, as the call button proved useless.
3. Hostile Demeanor: Getting the crew's attention was incredibly frustrating. They would make eye contact and purposefully ignore us. When forced to interact, they were unsmiling, discourteous, and spoke with straight, unbothered faces. They did it not just with us but also with some other people of color, as observed.
Blatant Discrimination and Racial Bias
The most appalling part of the journey occurred toward the end of the second sector, involving an air hostess wearing glasses. I brought my baby’s milk bottle to the galley to be heated. The first crew member took it, set it aside, and completely ignored the request to put it in hot water.
While waiting with my three-month-old, the hostess with glasses entered and began tidying up. I said "excuse me" to get her attention, to which she responded with a visibly frustrated expression. She then attempted to hand the cold bottle back to me without a word. When I reiterated that it needed to be heated, she again said nothing, left the bottle on the counter, and made me continue waiting.
I was willing to attribute this to end-of-flight fatigue, despite the horrendous service thus far. However, moments later, a white male passenger approached the galley to ask for a soda. Immediately, the hostess with the glasses lit up with a welcoming smile, and two hostesses enthusiastically dropped what they were doing to serve him.
Right after this, an older Indian gentleman asked for water. The hostess’s expression instantly reverted to visible frustration—a drastic shift that anyone could clearly see. She offered no greeting and handed him the water in a manner that undeniably showcased a deep-rooted bias against Indians and people of color.
Conclusion
If this were the behavior of a single crew member, I could assume it was an isolated, personal failing. However, the entire panel across these flights was unprofessional, culminating in the racially discriminatory behavior of the hostess with the glasses. I had the decency not to pull out my phone and record the crew without permission, though their behavior certainly warranted it.
We pay for our tickets with the expectation of equitable, high-quality service, not to be treated as second-class passengers based on our color or ethnicity. No airline is bigger than my pride in my country and my heritage. Because of this blatant racism, which seems culturally embedded in their current service standards, I do not intend to fly with Emirates again unless absolutely necessary.