Stranded in the sky

When the North Indian Fog engulfs us, the most unenviable schedules are those of travelers. With domestic and international flights getting ...

When the North Indian Fog engulfs us, the most unenviable schedules are those of travelers. With domestic and international flights getting rejigged, delayed or cancelled, all those luscious travel offers seem like, well, a lot of hot air. What8217;ll you do with a cheap ticket if your plane won8217;t take off?

Is there no such thing as passenger rights in India? Boarding an international flight from Delhi8217;s smog-smeared Indira Gandhi International Airport recently turned out to be a hellish experience. A good half hour was spent crisscrossing the airport8217;s terra firma looking for a parking niche. The fog-affected planes that couldn8217;t land replicated our fate in the sky! Inside were serpentine queues, bawling babies, hapless mummies with depleting infant food supplies, thrusting auntyjis and apathetic staff.

During an interview with Tourism Minister Renuka Chowdhury recently, she despaired over the lack of urgency attached to improving our airports. 8216;8216;I8217;m badly let down by the country8217;s infrastructure!8217;8217; she moaned. But is this dismal state of affairs so surprising given our sloth-infested Airport Authority of India? The outfit oversees 126 airports of which 11 are international with Delhi and Mumbai accounting for nearly 60 per cent of the air traffic. With Delhi handling about 500 flights a day, delays and cancellations are usual. And mismanagement governs our airports.

Contrast this with Singapore8217;s Changi Airport. My flights here have invariably left on time, the staff8217;s been unfailingly polite and the coffee piping hot. Smaller airport? You gotta be kidding! Changi will receive a whopping 4,000 weekly scheduled flights for its new Northern Winter Season October 2005 through to March 2006 alone, with no less than 83 airlines operating out of it at any given time. Yet the airport is shiny, a vibrant global air hub which has bagged international awards for service and upkeep.

But till we get to a Changi-like scenario, perhaps passengers can be treated better. The European Union recently passed a law that ensures compensation for all air passengers whose flights are delayed or cancelled at the EU airport.

Surely, if there are any passengers whose rights need vigorous enforcement, it8217;s us Indians. We8217;re flying a lot more 8212; international traffic out of the country has leapt 17 per cent over the last one year while domestic traffic has zoomed by 24 per cent. Perhaps the Chennai-based Air Passengers Association of India APAI, which is fleshing out a passenger rights charter, will help put things in perspective.

In the meantime, let8217;s make a pledge. Just cheap tickets won8217;t do. We want good service as well. Till then, perhaps Indian tourism would do well to drop 8216;Incredible8217; from its moniker. And try and get a tad 8216;Credible8217; first!