Ifyou have ever sat at an airport waiting for a delayed flight to take off
If you have never (yet) had to sit waiting for a delayed aircraft to take off
If you plan to catch a flight in future, and in India
If you know somebody who fits any of the above cases... Read On!
I Did! Of the many things I have, I shall spare you those with ‘masala’, as they don’t fit into the present scheme of things! And take you directly to Delhi Domestic Airport (Departures), where a self declared Bond lands up at 2215h, to catch a flight scheduled for 2255h.
The airline: Go Air. The route: Delhi -Bombay. The ticket: Courtesy MS & ‘Flight Raja’!
Flying thus to meet family on a weekend: Priceless!
The flight has been rescheduled to 0010! “Bunker 13” in hand, I walk my giraffe walk to a lounge chair post security and curl down, absorbing how the book’s antihero jumps down from a plane doing what MagS once did and what I didn’t hope to do that night - Skydiving! The time was 2350, and I hear a confusion developing at the boarding gate. A high pitched girl is screaming to walk on to the tarmac if the flight is delayed more, even if they put her in jail! That sounded more interesting than parachute descriptions. I changed frequency and tuned in to the turn of events closer to me. Anything female and at night, especially when I am comfy and curled up on a sofa gets me!
Another announcement – “Flight of 2255, now 0010, now is 0300!” I graon, call Bombay, tell wifey good night, and ask for a cuppa at 6 am when I reach! Two ears to the girl and two eyes in the book, I relax, at about 170 degrees flat!
Ears pick up “Get higher up, I want to” - that could mean many things if Sudipto was tuned in! “Get Wadia!”. “We want compensation!” Now, that closed the book for me. Eyes joined ears sensing money, on a free ticket that too! I had to see this cute sound’s origins! The “Ground Chief” of GoAir had arrived (1 hr after the first call for him) was trying his best, saying pacif(ic) words, adding ‘compensation issue was just media hype’
JagoGrahakJago- my head turned a few news clips over, and came to the right one. In 20 seconds, before I or the others knew, I was in the midst of the crowd, with a ‘cool dude with cool head’ demeanour and shooting legal jargon, PTI reports and Consumer Court decision. “Any domestic passenger delayed for more than 2 hours due to technical snags of aircraft is entitled to compensation of Rs. 10K (20K for international) in India” the headline screamed in my head. I dished out the gyan, in my best Daya English and looking the GoMan in the eye. Noise subsided, as the crowds let this new dude handle what seemed his turf. “Media hype”, GoRetort.
“Anyone got a Wifi laptop?”
“Yes”, Rao, GM of Eenadu Group says! “Can you please Google for the court decree on compensation, in the last 3 months?” 2 minutes, and the laptop with the PTI report on the decree of 24 Dec 06 (Allianz Air v/s Daljit Singh) was thrust in the face of GoMan! He panicked. “Let me call my boss at Bombay”. He did. VP (Ground Control). Much talk, Yeses and Nos. Then phone comes to you. You motion for silence. You get it. You talk loud and clear, state facts. Ask for compensation. “We will give you full refund”. You say “Anyone here wants refund?” Noo! “VP, hear that? “ Please don’t create a ruckus there, else we will have to take action”. You say “Folks, the VP will take action. We should all sit quietly”. “GoAirHaiHai” rends the air. All this is getting shot on video by the cutie’s friend. Every bit. You dictate a certificate which you want GoMan to sign, if no compensation was being given. Flight delayed by 4+ hours, tech snag, court decree shown, but Go(Not Aw)air etc. TV shows CNN reporting GoDelays, GoTalks of compensation etc. That too gets recorded on video! The girls are smart! You push hard, with another 2 cool-heads beside. Adv Rajeev of Delhi does the drafting. You two go with GoMan to his office. You ask others to wait, and not board. “Aye”! At GoOffice, certificate gets typed, read to VP@Bbay, argued, edited, cleared, printed. GoMen are desperate. Its 0310, they are paying for extra halt. “Sir, fog will set in”. You’ve seen worse. “We waited for 4 hours, another 10 minutes doesn’t matter”. They find bullying, praying, everything in vain. You give them a bit. 5 copies in ink now, scan and mail one to B’bay, and 150 copies to be ready by landing time there. “OK, sir”.
Beaming, Rajeev and you clear everyone for Boarding. Onboard there is another delay. People want to know what happened. “Where’s the money?” Accountability time! You stand up. Deliver a tiny speech on the status, ask everyone to fill up their contact data on a sheet being sent around. You stop. 153 men and women clap. Your ego gets a shot of Ecstasy! The air hostess asks “Anything the problem, sir?” You are sitting on the roof now! You say “Nothing you can handle”, followed by your most Bond-y grin! You make out 4 sheets for addresses (seat no. wise), pass them around. They come back filled, in 45 mins. Rajeev agrees to make the databse on his laptop. Papers pass over. The two of you pass email IDs around . GoPlane lands at Bbay. You get the (al)ready certificate copies and distribute to everyone. “You can do the rest yourself. But we are planning to take ip up at Delhi too”. Grins all around. Lots of good wishes and handshakes. You feel like Dravid, with The Cup (wonder if he will ever know!). You head out. No autos want to do a short trip. A car stops. You are offered a lift to ‘anywhere’. You choose the local station. You reach home, brag, brag, and doze off. The tea gets cold. You wake, send a mail to CNN IBN’s citizen journo ID, with pics of the airport tussle and the scanned GoCertificate, phone numbers of GoMan and GoVP. You mark copies to Rajeev, and ask him to handle the rest. You already have 4 mails from admiring fellow passengers. You fade off to sleep, half of you still yet to come to terms with your 3 hours of fame. But even when you are asleep, your mind is working on the POA ahead, the title for this review and tossing around.
But one thing you have seen and are sure of.
If Consumers stand shoulder to shoulder, not even Wadia can break that force. And, Mouthshut sure helps (not just by giving the tickets!).
PS: Am truly sorry to have written on this head, of which I have no idea. But then, I have some good things to say about the Go Air flights, so didnt want to us ethat up. But this was an info I couldn't keep to myself. Maybe, if everyone knows about the 10K Decree for delays, the Wadias and Mallyas will make our politicos enhance our Air transport infrastructure! High hopes? Well, this Consumer will never say Die!
