AI.

 

 

Disclaimer, this is not about Artificial Intelligence.

 

I had to catch the morning 8 o clock AI flight and was in deep sleep when the phone rang at midnight. Baffled, I picked up the phone, half asleep. It was a recorded message and before I could understand the message fully, it got disconnected. I realized it was about the flight and it was delayed. Fortunately, there was a whatsaap message and mail, informing that the flight is delayed by two hours.

I was worried as I have to reschedule all my plans. I was also confused whether to praise them for informing the delay 8 hours in advance or to curse them for informing me so late. I struggled to get back to sleep and then they called again to repeat the same message. By then my sleep vanished I had a premonition that my journey will not be smooth.

Fortunately, the checking in process was smooth. Later, the boarding was announced and a bunch of young staff were managing the whole process. They promptly called Zone 3, followed by other zones. As I crossed the door, I saw a young guy rushing in and stopping the line behind me. I was confused. That is when I saw all passengers crowding at the boarding bay. Apparently, there were no coaches available and all the passengers were waiting.

There was lot of confusion, instructions flew left and right and many people were talking to many others. I am not sure whether it is because of all the walkie talkie talks, but two coaches arrived. Someone was shouting, “only to open the rear door”. But no one was listening and both the doors were opened. Passengers rushed into the bus as if they will miss the flight otherwise. After lot of hustling and pushing I got into the coach.

When we reached the aircraft, one bus was already there near the rear ladder. So, we waited and then it started raining. The ground staff, who were young, had no cover and they ran under the belly of the aircraft. There was no one to give any instructions. The driver decided to act of his own will and adjusted the bus in such a way that the door opened directly to the ladder. Fortunately, the ladder was covered.

While I settled down in my seat, I understood there is utter chaos outside. One guy was walking down to his seat number 28 from the front and another guy was walking towards his row number 3 from rear. They clashed in between and an argument ensued.

The guy commented angrily,” you are in row 3 and why did you board from the rear?”

The other guy retorted,” what will I do if the bus drops me at the rear and if it is raining heavily?”

The atmosphere in the flight was getting vicious and the resentment of the passenger were increasing. The flight took off without any further issues.

After a while, the young crew started serving snacks to passengers and before they could finish half the rows, the landing announcement came. There was another round of chaos and confusion. Before the crew could recover from it fully, the flight landed.

The flight taxied for almost ten minutes, and you guessed it right, it was parked in the farthest spot possible from the terminal. Few passengers were cursing loudly, few were mumbling, others were grinding their teeth and rest accepted the misfortune.

 To add to our woes, the bus we got transferred to had to stop at three interception points as flights were crossing the path. Further, for reason unknown, we were offloaded almost hundred meters away from the gate. By the time we all got out of the bus, our tolerance levels had reached unimaginable heights. I saw a group of Buddhas, calmly walking towards the next misfortune.

And it really continued. The crew had announced that the baggage will arrive at belt number eight and it came on belt number seven!!!

AI, while being the national carrier, gave us nightmares. Every government promised that they will work magic. At the end, it was sold to a corporate conglomerate for a throw away price. When it was a national carrier, we blamed the bureaucracy, lack of employee commitment, wrong strategy and so on. We all believed that by selling it off to a corporate company everything will be turned around. The nightmare, albeit in a different way, continues.

Yes, AI need not always be about artificial intelligence. It can be about Air India. And also, about their Attitude and Irresponsibility. Even corporates can fail miserably if they lack intention, commitment, and values.