Has anyone recently encountered pushback from Etihad in changing flights to/from Paris?

Has anyone recently encountered pushback from Etihad in changing flights to/from Paris? My son was due to rtn MAD/CDG/AUH/SYD mid-December and EY have summarily changed his flight and made him overnight in Paris rather than connect through (and not even offer to put him up for the night - although he'd much rather avoid overnighting in Paris). EY didn't even offer alternatives like transiting via MUC or FCO. CSO said he would call back and see what they could do........still waiting. I recall a thread several months ago where EY's social media email was made available. Tried to search for it but couldn't find the thread. I would appreciate the forum's help if someone can remember the details. Thanks!

I am booked with EY to Europe (LHR) in January.  I have had four changes so far resulting in increase from a little over two hours to now more than eight houts in AUH.  No explanation AND as it is a VA redemption flight (in J class), no preparedness to let me use the earlier AUH>>>LHR flight instead.

Excuse the generalisation, but I feel that QR/EY/EK all have poor standards of service when it comes to (re)accommodating schedule changes.

Their business model is based almost entirely on connecting pax through their hubs. Imagine the nightmare if they chose to accomodate everyone's wishes, when schedules are changed! They'll have to take calls from almost everyone on the plane! It will be utter chaos. So they set the baseline for you to comply with whatever they tell you. 

TRB are you saying that because the ME airlines are large hub and spoke models they shouldn't be held to the same customer service standards as the rest of the industry?

If I had to overnight due to a schedule change I would 100% expect the operating airline to ensure any accom costs were covered, regardless of how many pax are on the plane and how many pax are heading to their respective hub and onwards thereafter

Joshb,

I'm suggesting customers be aware of the operating conditions and limitations of the airlines they're flying with.

Given the circumstances, they should be prepared to suck it up. If they are not prepared to suck it up, then don't fly with these airlines.

Given the scale of the ME3, any loss of custom due to unmet expectations, when schedule change is immaterial, where customers are expandable.  

+1 well said

If you want to be protected end-to-end and have the peace of mind, then fly with airlines that have:

• A track records of delivering such services
• Airlines of countries with a good legal frameworks, which protects the rights of consumers
• Airlines that belong to groupings with standards frameworks aligned to best practice 

Thanks for the responses.  I gather TRB doesn't recommend the ME3 carriers.  Anyway, I finally found the AusBT thread from earlier this year where EY actually responded to a post and gave their email address as [email protected] (I noticed TRB gave credit where's credit due and gave EY a +ve wrap!).

Anyway, my son did the HUCA approach and got a constructive  CSO who suggested leaving a day early so he could rtn MAD/AUH/SYD. Solved at last!

Glad it went well for him!

ME3's great when things go well but you just have to lower your expectations when things don't go as planned.