Originally Posted by
Asturias56
It wasn't just Aeroflot - there was also Air India ... and Northwest..................... horrible airlines in slave. And Alitalia
I don't often post here, but I thought I would share my own Air India experience.
Ever since I was a young boy I wanted to visit India. I had an uncle who was a missionary priest in Hyderabad in the 50s and 60s, and he once brought me back a small soapstone model of the Taj Mahal which I very much treasured.
Roll on 30 years or so and I finally had my chance. I was living and working in Hong Kong at the time when a good friend was moved to Mumbai and invited my wife and I to come to visit. So, I booked a trip to Mumbai, and added on a trip to Delhi to experience the Dehli / Jaipur / Agra triangle to finally get to the Taj.
I booked the flights on Air India as it was the most convenient airline to book Hong Kong to Mumbai to Dehli to Hong Kong. When I advised my friend of the flight bookings he strongly suggested I reconsider, and book Cathay or Singapore Airlines instead. I decided to ignore his advice as we would be using Air India on the Mumbai to Dehli leg anyway, and multiple bookings would have been a lot of hassle.
The outward leg left HK an hour and a half late. We were delayed waiting for last minute passengers, but the flight made up some time and arrived about an hour late into Mumbai. Not so bad really. The flight a week later to Delhi left on time, and we had a really memorable drive to Jaipur and Agra. Anyone who has been driven around that route will understand what memorable means. But, seriously, I loved every bit of it.
Finally, the leg back to HK, which was a night flight, left on time. I relaxed and settled back into the seat to get some rest, and remarked to my wife that Air India had been OK really.
Famous last words!
15 minutes into the flight my wife commented that we still seemed to be quite low when we should have been at cruising altitude, and when I looked out of the window I could see she was right. We weren't climbing at all. I suggested we tighten out seat belts and prepare for the worst. 10 minutes later, the Captain announced that the landing gear wasn't retracting properly, and that we would be returning to Delhi. Now, aware that the landing gear was playing up didn't inspire confidence in a safe landing, but as it happened the landing was uneventful and we breathed a big sigh of relief.
We taxied back to the terminal but were kept on board. We were told that an inspection had revealed a part was needed that would sort the issue and we could expect a further 2 hour delay. After 3 hours on a hot, sticky aircraft we were told the part needed was unavailable and would have to be flown in from Mumbai the next day. We were deplaned and taken to a hotel for what was left of the night.
The hotel was a dump. The type where brown water came out of the tap, and it was better not to think about the origin of all the stains on the bedding and soft furnishings. By now, though, we were so exhausted we both fell asleep quickly.
In the morning, we were given a breakfast in the dining room that matched the room standard, and were then directed to an Air India office in the hotel. By now, we were running about 12 hours late, and you can imagine the chaos in the office which was packed with a lot of angry passengers. I felt sorry for the poor Air India girl who single handedly had to deal with the fall out that was none of her making.
One angry passenger complained he was going to miss his onward connection to an important business meeting in Taipei, and many others moaned vociferously to the Air India girl who, unfortunately, wasn't able to tell us what was happening. I noticed an Air India internal magazine that proudly announced that their customers thought they were the best airline. When I remarked on this, the person next to me grabbed the magazine, stormed over to the AI representative, tore it into tiny pieces, and threw it over the girl telling her exactly what he thought of the best airline.
To end this long tale, we were eventually put on another aircraft and arrived in HK safely, but over 20 hours late. On a slightly philosophical note, though, such experiences actually make up part of life's rich tapestry, and linger as some of our more memorable moments. The true aviation horror stories lie with those not around to tell them.