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The fog in Delhi has slowed down the traffic on the roads and created chaos at the airport. This is the season when flights are bound to get delayed as a result of zero to poor visibility.
I came across an article which had mentioned that according to Flightradar24, on 14 January, 414 flights were delayed in arrivals and 508 were delayed in departures.
My flight from Terminal 2 of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in New Delhi was scheduled to take off at 11:20 am to a city in Assam.
I was all set to leave my home when I received a message from IndiGo Airlines, informing me that my flight was delayed by an hour – giving me more time to relax at home.
I reached the airport at 10:15 am and received another message from IndiGo that the delay has been increased further. I had no option but to enter the T2 terminal of the airport.
As I walked into the terminal, most of the passengers were glued to the TV screens in front of them, and were checking and rechecking their flight timings.
Some were looking for a place to sit. All the seats were taken, and there was no space to even place your foot.
Compared to Terminal 3 of the IGI Airport, Terminal 2 has a limited infrastructure.
Terminal 2's land-side, the area between entry and security checkpoint, is less than its air-side, the area between the security checkpoint and boarding.
This created congestion at Terminal 2 of IGI Airport.
The airlines could have done a better job as far as communications were concerned.
There was a mismatch of information between what was shown on the display screens and the app of the concerned airline, because of which airline officials, working as human announcers, were overwhelmed.
Skilled, professional humans are needed to deal with such situations.
The ground staff members were doing their best but were at the receiving end of the airlines' shortcomings.
If some ground staff were rude, it was only because passengers were unwilling to listen to them.
I, too, interacted with an airline staff member who patiently explained the situation to me. I believe that if you give respect, you get respect. Hence, passengers needed to be more patient and considerate.
The airlines had organised meals for the passengers but only from one particular outlet.
Eventually, that specific outlet got overcrowded with all the passengers queueing up to collect their meals, adding to their (passengers) frustration.
I, for one, did not feel like entering that melee for grub.
It would have been better if they had handed a meal coupon of a specific amount and let the passengers choose the food outlet from where they wanted to eat.
I did convey my appreciation, but the communication from the airlines should be more efficient so that, in case of unforeseeable circumstances, passengers can wait at their homes rather than face the chaos at airports.
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