Amit Sinha's Travelog

Its around 4am so pardon me if my judgement is partially tainted by
fatigue-infested neurons. On my visits to India, I normally come in
through Chennai. The airport may be small, not particularly slick,
but the staff is friendly, courteous, and efficient. I was therefore
a little taken aback earlier today at the Delhi Indira Gandhi
International Airport, where despite the modern facilities, the staff
still appeared to be from the dark ages, when flying in and out of
India was a nightmare.

It first started at the baggage screening, where the attendant at the
baggage area persuaded an Italian couple to give him a Rs. 500 “gift”
for having their bags moved through screening. This was in front of
higher officials who chose to turn a blind eye towards such activity.
A slight contrast to Chennai where I’ve not come across this, or the
Mumbai airport where staff would wear jackets stating that they do
not accept tips.

At the immigration counter, despite having ten open counters the
lines were moving slowly. The gentleman at my counter, Mr. Praveen
Kumar, decided that taking fifteen minute breaks in five minute
intervals would really endear him to weary travelers at two in the
morning. Of course there were no customer service or senior officials
around for us poor travelers to request either a change of line or
another officer. We waited, and subjected ourselves to Mr. Kumar’s
dedicated work schedule. I am sure he had certain reasons for taking
such breaks, but whatever they were, having them not affect the flow
of passengers would have been helpful.

However, the person who really made me upset with Delhi Airport was
the security guard allowing people to board. Once the announcement
came for boarding, as usual a long line formed at the entrance.
Business class passengers were being let through the side, and
Turkish Airlines staff were checking boarding passes to verify that
it was indeed business class passengers who were boarding. Unlike
flights to the UK and Europe from Chennai or Mumbai, Indians in
Business Class were the minority here, i.e. just one, me. Despite
having my boarding pass checked and verified by the staff, the
security guard, without even checking my boarding pass rudely asked
me to head over to the back of the line.

Overall, I was a lot more satisfied by the professional service of
the smaller, less-equipped Chennai airport than the large, fancy, yet
human-unfriendly Delhi Airport.