Throw your hands India Air
Ok – let’s answer some obvious questions first. Yes, Air India does serve curry on its flights. No, Air India’s curry isn’t good. And Air India is just like India itself, one step away from chaos and yet somehow it works.
I had a 12.15 flight which meant I had to be at Heathrow at 9.15 for the 3 hour check in that is now advised. I got there at 9am so proceeded to check in where there was no-one to be found. I waited half an hour and still no-one. I was concerned had I gone to the wrong place? I found an employee of Heathrow who confirmed I was in the right place and that he would call someone. 10 minutes later they opened up the check in desk.
Check in progressed as usual, until after my bags had been checked the lady informed me that the flight was going to be taken off at 2.15pm. I thought I had misheard her, but she confirmed 2.15. When I pointed out that I was going to miss my connecting flight she looked shocked. She told me that I could sort it out in Chicago. She at no pint apologised that I now had 4 hours to kill in Heathrow, and funnily enough that was exactly what I felt like doing – killing.
At 1.45pm we were called to our gate. We got on the plane. I couldn’t believe my luck, it was only half full and I had an entire 3 seats to myself. Oh the bliss. I hadn’t slept well the night before, through all the excitement of finally coming to live with Jen, so by now I was quite tired. I have always struggled to sleep on planes, and now I thought I would definitely be able to sleep as I could stretch out. Still no apology from anyone connected to Air India, but I had almost forgiven them that because I had so much room.
We took off. They brought around the traditional snack. They started playing a movie about an Indian Cricket team. I found my eyes getting heavier and heavier. I lay across all 3 seats and started to drift off to sleep. 10 minutes later I was woken by one of the in flight crew asking if I wanted a drink. I said no, and went back to sleep. 30 minutes later I was woken up by one of the crew asking what I would like for dinner. I chose the vegetarian option (the meat option didn’t sound appealing, I prefer to know what meat it is rather than just “meat”), which turned out to be fish curry. I couldn’t tell you what it tasted like, as I didn’t want to vomit on the flight. I went back to sleep and was woken up again by the guy coming around to collect the trays. I went back to sleep and was woken up again by someone asking if I wanted a drink. I gave up sleeping and watched the second movie they were playing which was Nanny McPhee.
We arrived in Chicago. I went through the Permanent Residents line rather than the visiting line. It went smoothly and I was in the USA. I collected my baggage and went and found the Air India representative who arranged for me to get on the next available flight to Sacramento, which departed at 8.15pm. I had 3 hours to waste in Chicago. I decided that I should get to the gate that I needed. I arrived had something to eat, read my book and called Jen to let her know what had happened. When I looked up next I noticed that my 8.15 flight had been pushed back to 8.22pm. Ok what was 7 minutes between friends? Then it moved to 8.25. Oh no. I had seen this before. In London many of the train companies do this with the expected time of your train to try and fool you. The train will start off a couple of minutes late, then just before the train is due in at its new later time it will get shifted back by another couple of minutes, and this will be repeated until the train turns up. I finally boarded the plane at 9pm I settled down in my seat (I had an empty seat next to me) only to find out that the in flight movie was Nanny McPhee.
I had a 12.15 flight which meant I had to be at Heathrow at 9.15 for the 3 hour check in that is now advised. I got there at 9am so proceeded to check in where there was no-one to be found. I waited half an hour and still no-one. I was concerned had I gone to the wrong place? I found an employee of Heathrow who confirmed I was in the right place and that he would call someone. 10 minutes later they opened up the check in desk.
Check in progressed as usual, until after my bags had been checked the lady informed me that the flight was going to be taken off at 2.15pm. I thought I had misheard her, but she confirmed 2.15. When I pointed out that I was going to miss my connecting flight she looked shocked. She told me that I could sort it out in Chicago. She at no pint apologised that I now had 4 hours to kill in Heathrow, and funnily enough that was exactly what I felt like doing – killing.
At 1.45pm we were called to our gate. We got on the plane. I couldn’t believe my luck, it was only half full and I had an entire 3 seats to myself. Oh the bliss. I hadn’t slept well the night before, through all the excitement of finally coming to live with Jen, so by now I was quite tired. I have always struggled to sleep on planes, and now I thought I would definitely be able to sleep as I could stretch out. Still no apology from anyone connected to Air India, but I had almost forgiven them that because I had so much room.
We took off. They brought around the traditional snack. They started playing a movie about an Indian Cricket team. I found my eyes getting heavier and heavier. I lay across all 3 seats and started to drift off to sleep. 10 minutes later I was woken by one of the in flight crew asking if I wanted a drink. I said no, and went back to sleep. 30 minutes later I was woken up by one of the crew asking what I would like for dinner. I chose the vegetarian option (the meat option didn’t sound appealing, I prefer to know what meat it is rather than just “meat”), which turned out to be fish curry. I couldn’t tell you what it tasted like, as I didn’t want to vomit on the flight. I went back to sleep and was woken up again by the guy coming around to collect the trays. I went back to sleep and was woken up again by someone asking if I wanted a drink. I gave up sleeping and watched the second movie they were playing which was Nanny McPhee.
We arrived in Chicago. I went through the Permanent Residents line rather than the visiting line. It went smoothly and I was in the USA. I collected my baggage and went and found the Air India representative who arranged for me to get on the next available flight to Sacramento, which departed at 8.15pm. I had 3 hours to waste in Chicago. I decided that I should get to the gate that I needed. I arrived had something to eat, read my book and called Jen to let her know what had happened. When I looked up next I noticed that my 8.15 flight had been pushed back to 8.22pm. Ok what was 7 minutes between friends? Then it moved to 8.25. Oh no. I had seen this before. In London many of the train companies do this with the expected time of your train to try and fool you. The train will start off a couple of minutes late, then just before the train is due in at its new later time it will get shifted back by another couple of minutes, and this will be repeated until the train turns up. I finally boarded the plane at 9pm I settled down in my seat (I had an empty seat next to me) only to find out that the in flight movie was Nanny McPhee.
posted by Nick at 8:11 AM
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