Coping with the unexpected

Bizarre as it may seem, the great ash crisis has only lasted a week — but it feels as though it has been a lot longer. We have all used this very intense time to develop new skills: some friends have become experts on the destructive properties of volcanic ash when sucked into jet engines; others have studied weather forecasting, and along with the rest of the world have failed to be able to predict when the ash cloud will be dispersed; some have become air-traffic-control experts by visiting websites that follow aircraft movement; and a very few have developed enough skills in Icelandic pronunciation to be able to say ‘Eyjafjallajökull' without hesitation or repetition.

But most of us have just rubbed along, doing what we have to and simply waiting for the crisis to end, since we assumed that it would not go on for weeks and weeks. The satellites still work, keeping us up to date with what is happening, and the internet is doing its job — even though the UAE has suffered very slow speeds because yet another cable somewhere in the Mediterranean was cut by accident.

But outside our immediate circles of friends and businesses, there has been a wider world working hard to put things right. Airlines such as Emirates have had to accommodate thousands of their stranded passengers — particularly since Dubai is a popular destination for people to visit from all over Africa and Asia — as they wait to move on to Europe. And the whole airline industry has been losing money hand over fist as the airlines have had their crews and planes kept on standby.

It now seems that the ash cloud may be dispersing. There is talk of a new plume starting a new cloud, but we do not know what will happen. And that is one of the big lessons of the week: that the unexpected can happen and affect so many of us. Normally, these natural disasters affect someone else. Tsunamis, floods, droughts and earthquakes happen all over the world, but they affect the people in the immediate area and their friends and relatives, often for years: Chile and Haiti have only just started rebuilding their infrastructures and societies. The Asian tsunami devastated thousands of communities that are still not back on their feet. But for the majority of the world, life was not affected by these terrible horrors.

The ash cloud has not been destructive, but it has caused massive and completely unexpected disruption. The totality of the ban on flying has been shocking. Europeans on their Easter holidays could not get home. Business travellers could not go on their way. Goods have stopped moving and perishables such as food and some pharmaceuticals have started to run out. Every business in the Gulf has had to do a quick stock check because very few operate with large inventories. Most businesses assume that the supplies will just keep rolling in, and all they have to do is keep paying the bills.

Coming out ahead

Out of all the chaos, the UAE is one of the very few countries that has been able to come out ahead by dealing with this totally unexpected crisis with calm and organised planning. Emirates and Etihad have led the way by dealing with their passengers with dignity. The hotels have accommodated thousands of unexpected guests. And many of us at home have enjoyed having friends or relations stay for much longer than originally planned as they waited for the ash cloud to clear. Friends have also popped in unexpectedly, coming to Dubai to wait for a flight.

It is important that Dubai and its companies have handled the crisis well. There has been a lot of bad publicity over the past year as Dubai has wrestled with the impact of the global recession, and sorting out its borrowings. It has not been easy, and the impact of the action now being taken will take some time to make itself felt.

Therefore, it is important for Dubai's image and brand that companies such as Emirates and the many hotel companies offer the refugees from the ash cloud the best that they are able to. Everyone knows that no one is to blame for the volcano's eruption, but stressed-out people are likely to lash out at anyone offering poor customer service. This is where Dubai has done well this week, even if none of us can say Eyjafjallajökull.