Frankfurt Friday 17th December 2010
The German landscape unfolds before me from my lofty viewpoint…… a sea of white, occasionally broken by coloured patches and shapes. Quite beautiful really, and I marvel at the wonder of mother nature's gorgeous bounty wrecking so much havoc on people's lives.
We land without further ado and make our way briskly but somewhat naively to the area which holds the reservation counters, to rebook ourselves on a flight to Calcutta.
Nothing, I repeat - nothing, prepared me for the chaos which calls itself Frankfurt International Airport.
Several hundred travellers are bunched up together in a large mass in the hallway. They appear to face reservation agents who are far against the wall, too far from my vision. I check to see if it is the right mass of people (you will notice I refuse to use the word queue) for re-connections. Shakily, I join the mass, putting myself at the mercy of the distant unseen reservationists whose existence is evidenced only by the hoards of people waiting to be seen.
There appears to be several hundred people before me. Please God, I pray, let the mass before me move quickly.
The mass and I become one…. we move together…. thankfully in the direction of the ticket agents, but the move is painfully slow, charged with emotion, sweat, tears and a desperately tired body. But the heart remains defiant and committed to a single cause - to get the three of us out of unpredictable Frankfurt as soon as possible.
The mass is unruly but I am one of them. I join those who are vocal in criticising Lufthansa, Frankfurt airport and its facilities. I speak openly of my frustration with the airport staff, the Germans, the weather. In fact the situation is turning me into a person I am not - a whiner.
I am horrified at Lufthansa's treatment of those unwillingly stuck in Frankfurt. There is no one in the hallway managing the lost and confused multitudes - families with small children and the elderly are left to fend for themselves; those of us who are fit are too wrapped up in our own affairs to assist them. Perhaps there are too many of us…. but surely,
The airport could have been better prepared.
The situation with the queues (or lack of) and dearth of facilities is abominable. I constantly ask myself how Germany, a model of a highly developed nation, could fail so miserably in the most basic form of customer care, and as I look around me, I have to remind myself that I am not in a third world country. Through trained eyes developed by years working in the service industry, I can see that the disorganisation can be rectified easily by simply having more staff on duty - in the halls managing the people, and at the ticket desks seeing to the crowds quicker.
Bad weather would have been forecasted; cancellations and missed connections resulting in masses stranded should have been anticipated - after all, Frankfurt is one of the busiest hubs in the world!
So - why does the airport appear to be so unprepared and running on skeletal staff?
I remain with the masses…. my girls, sympathetic at my plight, chuck bottles of water, packets of crisps and chocolates to me, as I dare not leave my position. My "position" involves feeling like a sardine, reminding me of the last time I travelled in a London tube during peak hour, squashed and pressed against other commuters in a most undignified manner. This ordeal, though similar in that respect, will span several hours.
Having no choice, I form alliances with several who are immediately around me. As the struggle to get to our respective destinations continues, we are oblivious to the snow storms raging outside which brought us together in the first place. Ironic really.
I hear through the "mass" grapevine that most of the long haul flights out of Frankfurt are already fully booked, and we the inconvenienced, far from given preference, are dumped on waiting lists and shoved hotel vouchers for indefinite stays in Frankfurt. Never, I resolve, will that be my fate. I also hear that there are only 3 reservation agents working their way through the vast multitudes of stranded passengers. A real slap in the face.
The lack of sleep, physical fatigue and sheer mental exhaustion are beginning to catch up….. I sway a couple of times, but the proximity of others support me. Two people faint, and are seen to by one of us who happens to be a doctor. Folks around me start to get irritable and small arguments erupt. As for me - I keep staring straight ahead, passive, willing the agents to work faster or some more magically appear. It is a trial I have never faced before….. the feeling of being let down by Lufthansa and Frankfurt airport is overwhelming, and I am bitterly disappointed with their treatment of us which can best be described in one word - inhuman.
My perseverance finally pays off, and I see the ticket agent at 9.30pm….. 5 hours after we land.
I'm past caring the repercussions of appearing too demanding and I make it quite clear, right at the onset, that staying in Frankfurt is NOT an option. Should flights to Calcutta be a problem, we do not mind flying to any Indian city, via any route, any airlines. Please…. just get us out of here.
The need to leave Frankfurt has become incessantly urgent. I lock eyes with the agent and give him a determined look that tells him that I will not leave his desk until I go away with definite boarding passes.
"There is a flight to Delhi which departs in 30 minutes. Do you think you can make it?" the agent finally looks up at me after what seems an eternity.
Waves of relief flood through me. "Of course" I am so gratified, I can hardly get the words out. I gear the girls up while the agent prints our tickets.
Only when we run for our gate I realise that the agent has also included tickets for a connecting flight to Calcutta. Bless him.
As our plane taxis onto the runway, about 3 hours late (we needn't have run after all), I manage to relax for the first time that day, and drift off to an uneasy sleep. Things cant possibly get any worse now.
Or can they?
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