As it happens, I am finally back in India after an arduous four-day journey It was entirely my fault I’m afraid. I missed a couple of provisions in the small print of my ticket contract. One said that getting stranded at exotic places like Minneapolis-St Paul and Schiphol (Amsterdam) airports at the passenger’s cost was one of the pleasures that came with the trip at no additional charge. The second was the provision that it takes screams, pleas, dogged persistence and threats of legal action for the airline to do simple things – like reroute passengers after flights are cancelled.
The airline I am referring to is KLM-Northwest. The ineptitude that they’ve shown the two times I have flown with them is beyond belief. My plane got turned back in mid-flight. That was not their fault. Apparently Amsterdam had suffered the worst snow in a generation. But surely it is not that difficult to reroute passengers? After much cajoling they send me off to Amsterdam the next day saying that I am on standby for the Amsterdam-Bombay leg. Once I get to Amsterdam, I find that folks over there have no way of checking if I am on the waitlist or not and no way of adding me to the waitlist. Apparently KLM and Northwest are still different companies – or something like that. So I spend one day at the Amsterdam airport not knowing if I am on the flight the next day or not. The next day I learn that I was confirmed all along.
And of course, I haven’t got my luggage yet. A good thing too. I’d have died of shock if I had found it on the carousel. It would be so unlike the KLM-NW that I’ve come to know and love.
Incidentally, Pradeep, sorry for not calling you up/meeting. I was just too busy this time. But I’ll be coming again any way next month.
Ravi,
You are not the only one. Here is my sordid tale with China Easter Airlines
http://hindi.pnarula.com/haanbhai/archives/2004/07/07/china-eastern-airlines/
Pankaj
PS:Afraid it is in Hindi 😀
Ravikiran,
When was this? I spent 2 hrs in the departure lounge and 5 hours in a plane in Schiphol last week (Wed).
I’d like to think that the weather conditions came about because our paths crossed 🙂
And I thought you had disappeared for good. Welcome back 🙂
Interesting. I had a similar experience in 1997. KLM, flying to Boston via Schipol. Too much fog, so the flight landed at Cologne instead, and left us behind. We were stranded for 8 hours (no food), huddled into a bus (open, freezing), and thrust into Schipol. No flight for a day. Had to find a place to stay ourselves. Quite a nightmare.
Guess they haven’t improved!
Did you take the visitor’s visa and go around Amsterdam? That would have been fun.
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Nitin, I was in Amsterdam on Friday, i.e 4th March. So I’m afraid you have only yourself to blame for the storm. I’ll take credit for calming the place with my sage presence.
Venky,
I didn’t have a visitor’s visa, or I’d have definitely gone around the place.
Anand, what I mentioned was just the worst of the experience. The plane was literally falling apart. The cabin lights would go off at random intervals. The doors of the overhead stowage bins would fall out during take-off and landing. They showed only one bad inflight movie during a nine hour trip (I have been spoilt by SA which gives a personal movie viewer even to economy class folks)
The stewardesses were falling apart too.
Pankaj, that’s okay. I can read hindi you know 🙂