Unsafe travel conditions

Dear Sir/madam, As a long term flyer and frequent traveller with Ethiopian Airlines, I must say that the flight ET729 which departed from Brussels on the 14th of December to Addis Abbabba was without any question the worst flight I have ever been on. Below the rundown of the irritations /issues/safety concerns we encountered:The boarding at Brussels airport was  chaotic, with many travellers departing for various countries in Africa cutting the waiting lines and not wearing their masks in a safe and appropriate manner.At the boarding gate the same situation: No wearing of masks !People shoving and pushingPeople wearing their masks on their chin, with mouth and/or nose visibly open.On the plane:Old aircraft which was incredibly warmNo place to put our handluggage, because all the overhead bins were full with people bringing multiple handluggages (some even bigger as my normal luggage)People not wearing their masks again, even after staff reminded them.People pushing my pregnant wife!!The seat next to me was occupied with a woman which occupied 25% of my seat. Which resulted, due to the seats which were small, my pregnant wife sitting on the isle seat being ran into during the whole flight.At the start of the flight, we addressed these issues and concerns with the flight attendants, and even asked if we could upgrade to business class (which had room) and even offered to pay for it. We were told there was nothing they could do and were asked to take our seats again in a very “devil may care attitude”.During the flight, there were people drinking standing up, not wearing masks and talking and laughing for hours long during most of the night..The stewardesses reminded them to wear their masks and be quiet, but were told off.  As you can imagine, this was a horrible flight for us, with understandable concerns for our health and safety especially in these corona times.I cannot understand why the flight was booked completely full in economy, and if that was even allowed! If we knew in advance, there was no way we would have even boarded.What makes matters worse, is that we just found out both of us have tested positive for Covid yesterday, because we were scared  for our health after that flight.Since we were in isolation 2 weeks before we left, tested negative for covid on 12/12/2021, the only way we could have contracted it, was on the airplane.We are flying back on the 15th of january with Ethiopian airlines because we have too, but i sincerely hope you will take actions and make this right for us.Right now, we have to quarantaine ourself (10 days gone of our holiday)  and find a Gynaecologist to see if everything is ok with our baby and what that will do to the pregnancy.Frederik Van de Mosselaer 

Dear Esteemed Customer, Thank you for contacting Ethiopian Airlines and this is to acknowledge receipt of your e-mail . Due to the current new Covid-19 Omicron variant and updated certain countries' regulation, we are receiving high volume of e-mails. Hence, you may encounter delay on reply and we assure you to get back within next forty-eight hours. If your travel is within 24 hours, please click s:www.ethiopianairlines.com/aa/book/booking/exchange-and-refund and submit. Thank you for your patience,

Dear Esteemed Customer,Thank you for your email.Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience that you have encountered on this occasion during your recent trip with Ethiopian Airlines. Please be advised that safety is our number one priority. Hence, we always make sure that safety comes before and above everything else as a leading African Airline. We will take your safety advice into consideration also. Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE DefSemiHidden="false" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99" LatentStyleCount="377" UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/ UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/ UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/ UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/ UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/ UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/ UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/ UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/ Name="index 1"/ Name="index 2"/ Name="index 3"/ Name="index 4"/ Name="index 5"/ Name="index 6"/ Name="index 7"/ Name="index 8"/ Name="index 9"/ UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 1"/ UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 2"/ UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 3"/ UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 4"/ UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 5"/ UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 6"/ UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 7"/ UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 8"/ UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="toc 9"/ Name="Normal Indent"/ Name="footnote text"/ Name="annotation text"/ Name="header"/ Name="footer"/ Name="index heading"/ UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/ Name=" of figures"/ Name="envelope address"/ Name="envelope return"/ Name="footnote reference"/ Name="annotation reference"/ Name="line number"/ Name="page number"/ Name="endnote reference"/ Name="endnote text"/ Name=" of authorities"/ Name="macro"/ Name="toa heading"/ Name="List"/ Name="List Bullet"/ Name="List Number"/ Name="List 2"/ Name="List 3"/ Name="List 4"/ Name="List 5"/ Name="List Bullet 2"/ Name="List Bullet 3"/ Name="List Bullet 4"/ Name="List Bullet 5"/ Name="List Number 2"/ Name="List Number 3"/ Name="List Number 4"/ Name="List Number 5"/ Name="Closing"/ Name="Signature"/ UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/ Name="Body Text"/ Name="Body Text Indent"/ Name="List Continue"/ Name="List Continue 2"/ Name="List Continue 3"/ Name="List Continue 4"/ Name="List Continue 5"/ Name="Message Header"/ Name="Salutation"/ Name="Date"/ Name="Body Text First Indent"/ Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/ Name="Note Heading"/ Name="Body Text 2"/ Name="Body Text 3"/ Name="Body Text Indent 2"/ Name="Body Text Indent 3"/ Name="Block Text"/ Name="Hyperlink"/ Name="FollowedHyperlink"/ Name="Document Map"/ Name="Plain Text"/ Name="E-mail Signature"/ Name="HTML Top of Form"/ Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/ Name="Normal (Web)"/ Name="HTML Acronym"/ Name="HTML Address"/ Name="HTML Cite"/ Name="HTML Code"/ Name="HTML Definition"/ Name="HTML Keyboard"/ Name="HTML Preformatted"/ Name="HTML Sample"/ Name="HTML Typewriter"/ Name="HTML Variable"/ Name="Normal Table"/ Name="annotation subject"/ Name="No List"/ Name="Outline List 1"/ Name="Outline List 2"/ Name="Outline List 3"/ Name="Table Simple 1"/ Name="Table Simple 2"/ Name="Table Simple 3"/ Name="Table Classic 1"/ Name="Table Classic 2"/ Name="Table Classic 3"/ Name="Table Classic 4"/ Name="Table Colorful 1"/ Name="Table Colorful 2"/ Name="Table Colorful 3"/ Name="Table Columns 1"/ Name="Table Columns 2"/ Name="Table Columns 3"/ Name="Table Columns 4"/ Name="Table Columns 5"/ Name="Table Grid 1"/ Name="Table Grid 2"/ Name="Table Grid 3"/ Name="Table Grid 4"/ Name="Table Grid 5"/ Name="Table Grid 6"/ Name="Table Grid 7"/ Name="Table Grid 8"/ Name="Table List 1"/ Name="Table List 2"/ Name="Table List 3"/ Name="Table List 4"/ Name="Table List 5"/ Name="Table List 6"/ Name="Table List 7"/ Name="Table List 8"/ Name="Table 3D effects 1"/ Name="Table 3D effects 2"/ Name="Table 3D effects 3"/ Name="Table Contemporary"/ Name="Table Elegant"/ Name="Table Professional"/ Name="Table Subtle 1"/ Name="Table Subtle 2"/ Name="Table Web 1"/ Name="Table Web 2"/ Name="Table Web 3"/ Name="Balloon Text"/ Name="Table Theme"/ Name="List Paragraph"/ Name="Intense Quote"/ Name="Subtle Emphasis"/ Name="Intense Emphasis"/ Name="Subtle Reference"/ Name="Intense Reference"/ UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/ UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/ Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/ Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/ Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/ Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/ Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/ Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/ Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/ Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/ Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/ Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/ Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/ Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/ Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/ Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/ Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/ Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/ Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/ Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/ Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/ Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/ Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/ Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/ Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/ Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/ Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 3"/ Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/ Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/ Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 4"/ Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/ Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/ Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 5"/ Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/ Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/ Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 6"/ Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/ Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/ Name="Mention"/ Name="Smart Hyperlink"/ Name="Hashtag"/ Name="Unresolved Mention"/ Name="Smart Link"/ Name="Smart Link Error"/ Thank you for choosing Ethiopian!Kind regards,Dure HDecember 20, 2021 1:23 PMlacht - Unsafe travel conditions - (CPTBE01421972-49) Ethiopian Email Notification: This email is from an EXTERNAL source. Be Cautious when clicking on links or opening attachments from an unknown or suspicious sender.To report a suspected phishing email, email us at ItServiceDesk@ethiopianairlines.com.

Dear Mr Dure,First of all, thank you for your reply.Second of all, to waive the complaint and downsize it to an “inconvenience” is beyond belief…1) if safety as you say is your main priority, why has the staff not been more helpful in dealing with these obvious breaches in health and security?2) if safety of the passengers is your highest priority, why did the flight attendants dismissed our concerns so easily and acting annoyed? why, for my wife and my unborn child, was there not taken a safety action?Can you explain to me why we were not allowed to upgrade to business class in these extreme unsafe circumstances, when even offered to pay for it? 3) You address our 10 days quarantine without the ability to see our family (which we did not see for 1,5 years nor celebrated the holidays with) as an inconvenience??! You call basically ruining our stay an inconvenience?4) Does Ethiopian Airlines do not care in what danger they have put my wife and unborn child? Or are 2 lives in danger a minor inconvenience?I strongly urge you to escalate this heavy complaint higher up, or i will be forced to take the appropriate actions.Sincerely,Frederik

Dear Esteemed Customer, Thank you for contacting Ethiopian Airlines and this is to acknowledge receipt of your e-mail . Due to the current new Covid-19 Omicron variant and updated certain countries' regulation, we are receiving high volume of e-mails. Hence, you may encounter delay on reply and we assure you to get back within next forty-eight hours. If your travel is within 24 hours, please click s:www.ethiopianairlines.com/aa/book/booking/exchange-and-refund and submit. Thank you for your patience,

Dear Frederik Van de MosselaerThank you for your email.Kindly be advised that we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience encountered. All precautions must be taken during this hard time especially with Covid 19. Please be advised that we try our best to make it the best condition for travellers.Thank you for choosing Ethiopian.Stay safe and healthyKind regardsHirut Kidaney, December 22, 2021 12:03 PMlacht - Unsafe travel conditions - (CPTBE01421972-49) Ethiopian Email Notification: This email is from an EXTERNAL source. Be Cautious when clicking on links or opening attachments from an unknown or suspicious sender.To report a suspected phishing email, email us at ItServiceDesk@ethiopianairlines.com.

Dear Hirut Kidane,The situation we encountered was not an "inconvenience", it was borderline dangerous.Does Ethiopian airlines acknowledge that they have put my wife and my unborn child in danger?We are very worried about the return flight and we expect Ethiopian to make this right for us.As we had a horrible flight to Addis Ababa, were forced to be in quarantaine for 10 days (which has hugely affected our holiday) since my wife tested positive for Covid, with 99.9% certainty due to the flight, and we are moving heaven and earth to make an appointment for a check up in the hospital for my wife and unborn child, it does not seem too much to ask to bump us up to business class for the return flight.PS: i urge you to take this up to a higher level and not refer to the flight as an "inconvenience " for us...Frederik

DearSir/MadamThank you for your email.Apologies once again, kindly be noted that we can not rebook you on a business class although you can communicate with our airport office.We are very sorry once again.Thank you for choosing Ethiopian.Kind Regards,Kidist T.(Ms)December 26, 2021 4:18 PMlacht - Unsafe travel conditions - (CPTBE01421972-49) Ethiopian Email Notification: This email is from an EXTERNAL source. Be Cautious when clicking on links or opening attachments from an unknown or suspicious sender.To report a suspected phishing email, email us at ItServiceDesk@ethiopianairlines.com.

Dear support center,Please be advised that i will take legal actions since my attempts to resolve this situation directly with Ethiopian Airlines are met with the most indifferent responses and standard answers.I have shared my experience with Brussels Airport and Star Alliance, and they are appalled about the flight conditions. Their responses are 100 times more customer friendly and will take it up with their counterparts at Ethiopian.Safety is clearly NOT your number one priority, as is very clear.Your customer friendliness is downright terrible.Frederik