Saudi Airline Served Donkey Meat - Research Paper Example

It has been revealed by many sources that Saudi Airline had been serving donkey meat during their flights in the past few months. 2. Reality Behind the Incident 2.1 Ignored Warnings from a Local Body In the month of June 2011, several sources reported that Saudi Airline had been serving donkey meat to their customers as a result of negligence to the warnings given by concerned authorities. A senior inspector at the Saudi Airlines supply department said that the airlines had received many warnings from Saudi Arabia’s General Food and Drugs Authority about their imports from Tunisia since the respective country was suffering from contagious diseases among their cattle (“Donkey meat on Saudi Arabian airline?”). The warnings also included aspects about the common sale of donkey and horse meat in the Arab country but the Saudi Airlines management did not pay attention to any of these warnings and reports.

The senior inspector further said that these warnings made the airline stop importing meat from Tunisia when it had already been served to their customers for nearly a month. However, Chusid stated that the donkey meat was being served as beef and it continued for more than a single month. Alongside the possibility of it being donkey meat, the presence of diseased meat in Tunisia also did not alarm the authorities to stop the supply of the meat on an urgent basis. He stated that one of the reasons for such a late reaction can be the low price for which the meat was being bought.

One factor that may have led to the lowering price of the meat was that the meat was near its expiration dates. Therefore, it can be stated that low priced meat was preferred by the management irrespective of the animal it came from. Lesser expense on the purchase of food might have increased their revenues but can certainly cause a crash in their customer loyalty. 2.2 Unexpected Behavior from a 3-Star Airline Saudi Airlines is a 3-Star airline (“The World’s 3-Star Airlines”). As per the standards of SkyTrax that has been set to provide rating for different airlines, 3-Star airlines provide “satisfactory standard” of mission critical services in numerous travel categories”.

Food is one of the most important categories in the rating of any airline. Donkey meat is not expected to be served by any airline and definitely not from a 3-Star one as it is expected to meet certain criteria. Customers avail the services of airlines on the basis of their ratings; such irresponsible and appalling behavior from a 3-Star airline makes the customers doubt the credibility of the ratings, along with the respective airline. Chusid stated that it could not be known from the reporting of the local newspapers if it was served to the business class, the economy class or both. 2.3 Prohibition to Eat Donkey Meat in the Country’s Religion Saudi Airlines is owned by Muslims and is considered to be flag carrier airline of a Muslim country, Saudi Arabia.

Muslims follow the religion of Islam; Islam has allowed some foods, whereas some types of foods are forbidden for its followers. Donkey meat is considered to be forbidden to be eaten by Muslims (“The Fiqh of Halal and Haram Animals”). Their Holy Book of Quran states that these animals are designated for being ridden on, not for consumption. The usage of a forbidden meat in an airline of Muslim origin