We all have missed bus, train or even flights at some
point in time. I too had a near similar
experience. A few years ago, I was
flying from Thiruvananthapuram to Bengaluru.
It was an Indigo flight leaving Thiruvananthapuram at 5 in the
evening. I had taken the same flight a
couple of times earlier. On all those
occasions I found that it was the only flight departing Thiruvananthapuram
around that time. Hence, the airport
used to be relatively less crowded and there was hardly any queue for security
check and check-in. Keeping this in
mind, that day I leisurely reached the airport around 4.15 pm. Moreover, I only had a small handbag, which I
could carry with me, and I had already done web-check-in. So, I just had to get the security check done
and proceed straight to the check-in counter.
But, to my surprise and shock I found the airport fully crowded and there was a long queue for security check. I came to know that two Spicejet flights got delayed and boarding was going on for three flights simultaneously. I stood at the end of the queue for the security check. But, looking at the speed at which the queue was moving, I was sure that I would miss the flight. I requested a CISF officer standing near me to permit me to join the queue in front as my flight was about to depart. With a tough look he told me in Hindi, all these people are waiting to get onto their flights, so come in order. I was getting anxious. Suddenly I found an Indigo staff passing by. I stopped him and explained my situation. He said he would do something and walked away. But he didn’t come back for a while.
The clock was ticking away, and it was almost 4.45 – just 15-minutes left for the flight to take off. Hoping against all hopes, I kept looking at the display board of departures, praying that my flight gets delayed by a couple of minutes. But it continued to show, ‘On time’. Suddenly, I heard a lady staff of Indigo announcing, ‘any passengers for the Benagluru Indigo flight please come in front’. Immediately I rushed to her. I was the only one. She had already spoken to the CISF officers to get the security check done on a priority basis. So, when I cleared my security check, she asked me to rush to the check-in gate, which was on the next floor. I picked up my bag and ran fast up the stairs. Panting, when I reached the gate, the lady at the counter told me, ‘Sorry sir. The flight is ready for departure and the doors of the aircraft are closed’. Through the aerobridge I could see the aircraft with its doors closed. Missed it by a fraction of a second. After a long pause, I asked her, ‘what do I do now?’. She said, ‘Sir I will give you a note that you missed the flight. Please go to our office on the ground floor. They will try to accommodate you on the next Bengaluru flight, which is at 8 pm.’. ‘Will there be seat available in that flight’, I asked. ‘Mostly yes, but being a Sunday, I am not sure, anyway please check with the office’.
Suddenly, to my surprise, the staff standing at the other end of the aerobridge started waving to me asking me to come. I didn’t know what was happening. By then the lady at the counter also got a call asking her to send me in. She opened the gate, and I started running towards the aircraft through the aerobridge. As I was approaching the plane, I saw its door opening. One passenger was deboarded from the plane. Without bothering to know what was happening, I rushed onto the plane. All passengers were looking at me as if I was a VIP who could delay the departure of a plane by a couple of minutes, get its doors opened and board. Some appeared to be a bit angry that I delayed their flight. I quietly went and occupied my seat. I have no idea why that passenger was deboarded – maybe to make way for me!
