Go Air ruined our Diwali
What a mess of an Airline!
I, like many other common Indian travellers, have recently switched to domestic air travel, due to its convenience. The travel times have drastically decreased as compared to the travels by railways. And we have been somewhat able to afford it, because the pricing has come down and even equivalent to the railway travel at times, which apparently has shot up recently (especially in the last 5 years).
But the technology is all-good, as long it’s of convenience to the masses and doesn’t partake in the increment of stress that life already throws on us.
Firstly, the ticket prices.
One of my major concerns for not travelling in the Railways is tickets prices are a mess today (like I wrote earlier, forget about the time it takes), and IRCTC website does not make life easy.
The dilemma is that whenever you go to book a train ticket on short notice (M.IND you, everyone is not a government employ or on a fixed job, to run on a planned schedule), its not available. For some reason is always on waiting, which can be tad frustrating. And if you are able to spot something, it’s going out by Tatkal.
Now, that’s out of the way, we are left with the option of Airlines.
The Airline Monopoly (actually an illegal process worldwide, but debatable in our country. See what a major network provider tried with zero rating) is extremely evident at the times of festivals, which are by tons here. So basically, whatever you do, you are going to find an unnecessary hike in airline prices, almost at all times.
A domestic ticket price between New York to LA in the USA costs around $49 to $100 for economy for a distance of 3,944 km. That is approximately 1/50th of the average national monthly income. Unfortunately, our ticket prices start 3k INR and go up (most of the times due to hikes) to 15k INR for domestic, even with the lesser staff wages, taxes and international fuel cost reductions. I would like to remind the reader here that distance between our northern and southern tips of the country is 3214 KMs. The longest domestic flight distances are nowhere closer to it.
You might think that it’s about the same as prices in America, but you would tend to forget that average national monthly income in this country is about INR 20k. So, the ticket ends up burning a hole in the pockets with about 1/3rd of one’s salary at an average.
Now, many of us work out of our native cities, under the one roof of this incredible country. We occasionally long to go to our native lands, especially at the occasional opportunities we get, called the festivals. We simply can't afford to visit. Only if there’s an offer once or twice an year, which comes in at unusual times, we have to book a ticket much early to be able to afford it. And if we can't make it on the travel date for some reason, the tickets are generally non-refundable.
We are fed of this unwarranted hegemony.
Secondly, the Treatment.
Airline staff might tend to act fancy, based on their aviation education, but no one truly delivers respect. I understand that some individuals are nerve wrecking for the staff to handle, but most of us are just trying to do one simple task, i.e. travelling from point A to point B. If the airlines can’t even help us achieve that in an efficient manner, what is the purpose of the frenziedly blown out glitz and style.
We do everything as expected. Reach the airports a couple of hours before boarding, even if the flight times are just 45 minutes. Then do the lengthy check-ins, patiently standing in the ever-expanding, un-organized and impatient hoards, the so-called queues. Get stripped of everything to prove our innocence, even if we are 10 years old. Then wait for another 45 minutes to board the plane (probably in order to increase sales at the airport stores). We wait for another half an hour to collect our baggage after the flight.
We do it all. We understand that it’s our duty and we are never going to complain (apart from this exasperated one time).
But after all the hassle, we desire only one thing, which is to reach our destination on time. Many a times we are denied that as well. And since the mid of last year, we don’t even have a right to object that! It’s no longer a responsibility of the airlines if the passenger’s second connecting flight is missed, due to their delays. No compensation, no support, no justice, Nada!
And forget about the reparations for a moment; just dare to cancel the delaying flight! You could be slapped on with a 60-70% cancellation charge (sometimes even more).
This is dramatically unfair.
My wretched experience
Who thought I would be writing on the topic. I certainly never did. We never really respond to situations until we face them ourselves. That is human nature in summation.
I didn’t want to go to my hometown this year, for Diwali, as the ticket prices had already been competing with the new i-phones. Luckily I got a teaching gig to be able to afford the last remaining seat on a ticket comparison website. I paid approx. 6.5K for each side that included connecting flights on the way there. So, now I was travelling from Mumbai to Amritsar via Delhi, on 31st of October 2016.
I was embarking this journey after an year of seeing the faces of my family, and was meant to be a surprise for them.
So, like any other common citizen, I got up early, did all my chores, reached the airport two hours before the flight, got through the procedure like a patient and a sane individual and started waiting for the flight to start boarding. Then waited and waited and waited…
After an hour, with no announcement & no information on the info screens (which BTW still said Check-in after an hour. Try reaching 5 mins later than pre 45 mins duration!), and with half of the travellers squirmish over their dismay of not being able to catch the next flight awaiting for them at the densely smogged out Delhi Airport, a man in a casual attire turns up. He’s all dressed up in a Kurta and chappals, as if he’s about to attend a wedding, frequently reminding us of the Diwali celebrations that we are about to miss.
“We are going to miss our next flight! Are you going to pay for it?” shouted a man, fuelling an impatient fire that already had flickered.
“No Sir, we are doing everything. The plane has technical issues” The unofficially dressed official replied.
“How is that going to help us? Don’t you have a back up?” More people started shouting. I see this group of white folks, probably American (heard the accent), throwing a smug smile at the crowd and probably at our incompetence. After all, Mumbai is financial capital of India, one of the most important cities and the airline itself is one of the most successful ones. They don’t have a back-up? Especially on a hard packed occasion like this. Even a small dhaba near my work serves a free cup of tea if the snacks are taking too much time in the frying pot.
We wait for two hours and board at 2pm. Half of the connecting flights were to leave at 3.30 pm, mine was at 4.20 pm. The flight takes 2+ hours. Atleast I still have hope of 20 minutes. Oh, no, wait, we don’t like collaborations. So, I’ll have to take my luggage, do check-in, do the strip show again, and then board the flight.
We boarded the flight. People started quarrelling with the flight staff. Please note that the pilot pre-locked himself in the cabin, unlike other flights like Air India (I have no clue why people dislike it. Even the seats are comfortable.), where the Pilots or co-pilots have been seen gracefully receiving the passengers. Maybe, it was ‘embarrassment best left on for the hosting ladies’.
So, the complete flight, the flight attendants were trying to assure us that they would help us on ground when the plane lands, by requesting the next flight to take us in. We all even believed that for a moment.
Nearing the landing time, a lot of us were shuffled to the front rows, so we can run faster. By we, I mean, two families with adolescent children and their strolling kits, many gentlemen including young and old, some old people with pre-booked wheelchairs I saw (not sure) etc. I really don’t understand how it would be logically manageable.
None the less, one of them came to me and said, “We have informed the ground staff to help you”. It’s like a light that lit in my eyes, and I went on to pass the message. The plane stops, we started De-boarding, and we heard the same lady telling an angry gentleman (who missed his next flight), “Sir, We can’t help you. I suggest you talk to your next flight operator.” Everyone, whom I told that there is hope, gapes into my soul, and, there is no ground staff to support!
I can only imagine how that squirrel character in Ice age feels when he loses his acorn, after all that dance.
Few of us, who could, rushed to the baggage belt (on other side of the planet). The belt number provided was wrong. We received it after 20 minutes, at 4.20 PM. The next flight had left. We ran to the Go Air counter, no support. After all, the law favours them and not the consumer.
Someone told us to take a taxi to terminal 3, to get another flight. We did. Even with 40 minutes impending to fly, they did not sell us a ticket.
Diwali night, no more flights, some individuals and other families stranded on the Delhi Airports. I had to take a hotel, and an expensive early morning flight next day (which costed another 5.5K).
Well, I couldn’t imagine for a better Diwali gift, to be honest. No memories, a two-day, once an year trip that costed the double than it should have and the ever-lovely bedbugs of the lonely Mahipalpur hotel room.
