Air India review by Sujit 2014-06-22

THANK YOU AIR INDIA!
I had just landed at Ahmedabad airport, having flown in from Delhi on flight AI-031 on 19-05-2014, and when I switched on my phone I found out that my niece had suddenly passed away and that I was to return immediately to Delhi by the same aircraft I had just flown in on (flight AI-030). This is impossible under normal circumstances, as the check in and boarding procedures for the onward/return flight are closed by the time the passengers who have flown in begin to disembark.
I explained my situation to the ground staff monitoring the baggage carousel who passed on the information to their supervisor, Mr. Ashutosh Trivedi, Dy. Manager, and then I rushed to meet him. As soon as he realised that mine was a genuine case, he and his well-trained team swung into action. Mission: get this guy (me) on board the flight. This was the last flight of the day; everything had either been shut down or was in the process of being shut down. In spite of my shock and grief at the tragic news I could not help but be amazed at the efficiency with which the task was accomplished. I am an engineer and am familiar with ‘time motion studies and optimisation’ and teamwork, and I could see that the dozen or so different things that needed to be done were being carried out with the precision of a racing car pit crew. I don’t know whether Air India drills the ground staff in such procedures, but I was very impressed; they didn’t put a foot wrong. Mr. Trivedi called the pilot and asked him to wait (despite the aircraft having been cleared by the tower), got the doors re-opened, rushed me through check-in (the system that prints the boarding pass was taking too long to boot up, so they filled it out by hand), and even took safe custody of my tool kit which could not go in as cabin baggage.
I was touched and amazed to see Mr. Trivedi and several other guys running alongside me, expediting my journey to the aircraft. The elevator was ready for me; the bus was waiting outside with doors open and engine running. As soon as I boarded the aircraft, the door was closed and we started moving even as I was putting my bags away. Whew!
I consider it my great good fortune that I encountered such an excellent and compassionate bunch of people who spared no effort in getting me on that flight. Thanks to Mr. Trivedi and his team I was able to get back home in time for the funeral. Thanks also to the captain and flight crew of flight AI-030 for their unstinted co-operation. Thank you, Air India. My sister, her younger daughter and I are forever grateful to you for making it possible for me to attend my niece’s funeral.