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. <\/p>\n
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<\/a>. But surely it is not that<\/i> 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.<\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n