i, me, myself

Time: 0510
Place: Indian Airlines counter, Delhi airport

Everything is normal. The staff is working at their normal pace (read: not pleasantly efficient). Right at this moment, the radio sitting idle till now springs to life. I couldn’t really make out what it was (attribute it to my inability to decipher noisy radio messages), but the guy at the counter very well does, and jumps to action as if they just radioed him a spring to be fitted up his, hmmm, foot. He conveys the message over to his colleague. Within a span of 25 seconds everyone knows that there an onset of serious fog.

The whole Indian Airlines staff is up to their full capacity and handles passengers like never before and man! I have not seen a more efficient bunch of 9-10 people before. They prioritize passengers based first, on their destination and second, on how good they look (hehe, only kidding). People traveling to Ahemdabad, Baroda and Bangalore (yay!) get the highest priority.

In the meantime, airport’s Pubic Announcement System crackles. Hamein yeh suchna dete hue khed hai ki Kingfisher ki Mumbai jaa rahi udaan sankhya IT-308 kharaaab mausam ki vajah se 2 ghante aur 40 minute ki deri se udaan bharegi. (Kingfisher flight IT-308 has been delayed by 2 hours 40 minutes due to bad weather.) In 3 minutes, similar announcements were repeated several times for numerous other flights.

I got a bit worried, but my dad put them to bay (well, that’s the Manager, In-Flight Operations for you) by telling me that a flight can take off in fog if:

• The CAT III Bravo system is installed on the runway. (check)
• The CAT III Bravo system is installed in the aircraft.(Check)
• The pilot is trained to operate under heavy fog. (Dad called in to verify, Check)
• Its Indian Airlines. (Check :D)

The last point gave me a kick. Indian Airlines is the only domestic carrier which is allowed to ply under the CAT III B system. This is firstly because of the fact that in the race for recruiting more pilots, other airlines have forgotten to verify if their pilots are trained enough. And secondly, all the fog-enabled bays (parking spots) are allotted to Indian Airlines.

Anyhow, I proceeded through the security check. The scene from the bus which was taking us to the aircraft was absolutely breathtaking. It was as if I have been teleported 65 years back in time, to the world war era. Everything was black and white. Only one aircraft was visible at a time, even though they were standing less than 30 meters apart. The background was all white (fog, remember?) and the aircraft looked blackish gray with a couple of people hastily moving below. The next aircraft came into the picture frame as the bus moved on. This looked exactly the same and totally independent of the previous one. The 2 minute ride was really a journey back in time. Spellbinding, to say the least.

I boarded the plane and occupied my seat. The pilot announced that the flight is going to be a bit delayed due to a fault in Air Traffic Control system. L And, here I am, resting and typing this to kill time.

Stop press: Arm all doors and cabin crew in their places for take-off. Wow! Now, I am going to curl up in my super cool, state-of-the-art reclining massage chair (Business class, of course ;)). Looks like this is going to be the only good part of my otherwise long and tiring day.

Till I am back,

Adios