“We are cancelling the flight, the passengers are requested to deplane please, the inconvenience caused is deeply regretted!”. The nightmare had just begun, we were scheduled to fly from Delhi to Indore on 4th Nov by Air India Express flight in the evening at 1955 hours. But that was not to be. To be honest after the AI 171 crash in the recent past, one doesn’t know whether to crib about this ‘bolt from the blue’ or to grin and accept the inevitable. In normal course such an event, would have been just one of those quirky things, one has to face once in a while, but here I was, fresh from my surgery, still in the recovery mode, travelling with my nonagenarian Dad and my spouse with my Dad and me in wheelchair.
The ordeal actually began earlier in the day, I had locked the Air India flight at 12.10 hours through Ease My Trip, pending a clearance by the doctor, that I was fit to fly. The moment, the doctor gave the green signal, I tried to confirm the air ticket, but to my horror, Ease My Trip website and the app did not reflect any bookings. I was trying to contact the customer care, but was bowled by the chat bots and their responses; finally latched onto a landline number from somewhere and got an executive on the other side. After almost an hour of the lovely lilting holding tone which is sonorous and ‘somnambulism inducing’ at the same time, which leads to a state of temporary amnesia, ensuring you forget the original reason why you called in the first place, the voice at the other end wakes you out of stupor. But since you have no idea to whom and why did you initiate this call in the first place, you fumble and stutter something about an air ticket, which had been blocked by you, which has decided to do the Houdini from the website of the App. The Executive was no better than the Chatbots which I had encountered earlier and out of exasperation I said, before I go on the social media about this fiasco, let me speak to someone higher up in the hierarchy.
Now the issue with their hierarchy or whatever it is referred to in the supposed ‘flat organisations’, that they claim to be, you have no clue who is the person and what exactly is his/her designation and powers/responsibilities. For all you know, it could be just one of their colleagues masquerading as a superior to keep us in good humour. Anyway, finally, this person offered to make up with issuing me some vouchers to make up for this faux pas, despite my reservations I had to finally accept this ‘non offer’, reminded me of the ‘non-paper’ which while in govt we had been putting up every once in a while. Frankly I was not much of an admirer of this concept without any accountability but here I think it was wise to salvage what I could from this mess and get on with the fresh ticket booking, where the prices had already shot through the roof. So settling for an evening flight at double the cost with the voucher too turning out to be as dud as the Dodo, we were finally all set having cleared all the hurdles and settled with our seat belts on ready to take off, when we suddenly were struck by this shocker.
Crisis brings out the true character of a person, which was evident in the way the passengers reacted to this news, getting into an argument with first the air stewardesses, who were merely messengers, but then someone had to bear the brunt of the ire of the irate passengers, so they were the fall guys. The ground staff were the next in line, who dutifully announced that the ATC at Indore had not cleared the flight, so we could not get airborne. The Airlines had apparently arranged for some budget hotels where the passengers could stay the night and then fly the next morning at 0800 hours, or alternately accept a full refund. Some wise guys immediately opted out and were on their way. Some of them stuck on and waited for more clarity, before heading to the Hotel which was in Gurugram and took them almost two hours to reach, and by the time they reached and settled down, it was time to return for the morning flight. All that they managed to steal would have been four winks not even forty, while we decided to seek refuge in my old Black Cat den, which happens to be in close vicinity, thus enabling us a relatively longer break, about three hours in all. While I was fresh from my surgery, but hats off to my Father, who not just braved this ordeal in a highly sporting manner, but he could be seen consoling few other senior citizens.
All is well that ends well, the flight did get delayed again in the morning, but finally we did touch down at Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport at Indore on the 5th and did make our way home. The nightmare was finally over,
16 thoughts on “A Forgettable Flight”
A frequent experience of civil aviation in India, which is not so civil
Suyash the chaos in civil aviation industry has become the order of the day.Kudos to you n your father to have gone through this nightmarish experience with calm n diginity.Next time better deal buddy.
While we always believed that time tests the brave, but it is apparent that the airlines have taken it on them selves to exemplify the quote.
Good to know that you are back home safely and on an accelerated recovery path with your humour adding to the acceleration
Get well soon
No method to madness. Unaccountability with the Airlines Industry in the country has become the new normal. Thankfully being back home to your comfort zone soon enough despite the delay is a big consolation. Wishing you a very speedy and total recovery Sir.
Hope you and Uncle are fine. A nicely written piece. Keep churning
Of late, DGCA seems to be defunct – they neither have any control on the Airlines/ operations and the prices. In my last five- six trips from Indore to New Delhi, not even once have the flights taken off in time.
Take care.
Marvelous.
Thank God,you safely reached home.
The airlines are biting more than they can chew. Everything is only for profit.
Thank god you made it eventually to your destination.
Maybe this will spicy up the next few episodes from you about the defunct institutions
I appreciate your pain especially after a surgery but truth lies somewhere inbetween. No service provider wants to displeasure the customers.
However well written as always 👏
Quite an ordeal brother. The complexity is aggravated due to the health issue. I can understand how frustrating and tough it becomes.
Thank God, you all arrived at Indore.
Very well expressed as always.
Your words actually made me feel the pain and the horrendous ordeal.. Get well soon Brig Sharma.
With the airlines industry operating like the erstwhile railways, these ordeals are getting a bit too common.
I too had a cancellation of an Indigo flight from Bangalore to Delhi, and was taken by fire shock when the Digiyatra gate informed me the flight was cancelled. Getting to Bengaluru airport from Hosur by cab is approximately half the cost of the flight ticket, which could have got saved if there was early info. It is now over a week and still waiting for the flight cancellation message. 😌
Hope you are getting better post surgery. Wishing you full recovery
Hi Suyash ! I wish you a speedy recovery and see you soon in action on “happy hunting grounds” !
My salutes to your respected father for standing by you at this age, and the lady wife for taking the challenge, head on !
Quite the ordeal, Suyash! Sorry for what you folks had to go through.
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