In October 2013, I fell down from a pagoda in Bagan, Myanmar, and dislocated a wrist bone in the right hand. The problem could not be diagnosed in Nyang U (Bagan) and I had to fly back home for a surgery. It took me a three-hop journey on three different airlines to get home. Subsequently, recuperating from a surgery and permitted by my doctor to travel, I took eight more flights in a span of two months when my hand was still in a sling or wrapped in a splint.
With a total of eleven hops using six different airlines, I had a chance to see how different airlines treat passengers with special needs. I was surprised at the sea difference in their treatment, sometimes even among the staff of same airline in different airports.
During all these journeys, I never requested for wheel chairs or special assistance, as my left hand was intact and I was able to handle my baggage, albeit with some difficulty. In some occasions, airline staff came forward to help me when they noticed my hand in a sling. Most airlines were neutral and in the only instance when I requested for some privilege, I was turned down.
Here is a compilation of my experiences taking eleven flights with six airlines.
The Best – Yangon Airways at Nyang U (Bagan) Airport
It is five months since I took a Yangon Airways flight from Nyang U (Bagan) to Mandalay and I still can’t forget how friendly the staff were. On arrival at airport, my cab driver waved at an airline staff at the gates and asked him to help me. One look at my injured hand (and many cuts on my face as well) and he understood I can do with some help. He sprung into the cab, lifted my bags out and placed them on a trolley. When I stretched my left hand (the uninjured hand) to push the trolley, he refused to hand it over and escorted me to the check-in counter.
You may have seen recent television ads of Air India, where senior executives from many companies vouch for the punctuality, quality of food and in-flight entertainment system on Air India flights. The promo ends with a quote, ‘Every time I fly Air India, I realize, how much better it is’. News reports also indicate that Air India is about to join Star Alliance and is trying to ensure smooth operations to meet the quality requirements set by the alliance.
A week ago, I had a chance to travel on Air India and to evaluate a part of what the television advertisement was claiming. I took three AI flights in a span of three days, travelling from Trivandrum to Delhi, further to Varanasi and later on to Agra. I was flying Air India after twenty months and was eager to see if their services have got any better.
If you are looking for a quick answer to the question, read no further! It is a big NO! Read on if you are curious about my experiences.
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Bridges had fallen and the roads were cut off. A long line of waited for many hours hoping for things to get better. Buses were cancelled and they had no clear answers to when the services will resume. “It depends on the weather, sir,” was the fence-sitting answer from the person manning the phone at the bus company, who neither had any real-time information nor had powers to provide decisive answers.
Himachal Pradesh was seeing heavy rains in the past few days. As it happens every year, landslides had crippled the road infrastructure and there was a cloud of uncertainty over what happens next. Unpredictable as the weather here is, things might magically settle back to normal next morning. Or it could very well turn worse if another line of dark clouds made their way towards the mountains.
My local contact constantly kept me updated on all the information he was able to procure. He had someone or the other in every part of Himachal giving him updates. Yet, nothing seemed certain. I turned to Twitter, looking for all the latest information that one could ask for. I had become like a journalist with a undying fetish for breaking news, scouring for every information that I could get, so that I can make informed decision on our next move.
Chandratal. This is where we were headed before the weather gods made us change plans.
The road from Delhi to Manali was affected by incessant rains that had brought down a bridge at someplace 100km before Manali. Himachal Parivahan had cancelled the night’s bus, since the bus that had left the previous evening from Delhi had not reached Manali yet. Nor did the buses from Manali make it to Delhi. We were stranded in Delhi for a night and were struggling to know the current status, so that we know what to do on the next day. My logistics organizer insisted that we rent a car and just head out, as someone would be working at the bridge and everything would be fine by the time we make the ten hour journey to the point-of-problem.
