My maiden experience of travelling by aeroplane transpired in the early 1990s on Delhi-Hyderabad route. It was an official trip to our Staff College which was located in Hyderabad. Thereafter I got multiple opportunities to go to Hyderabad as a trainee in the 1990s. I also flew to Trivandrum (now Thiruvananthapuram) and to Bangalore (now Bengaluru) with family in the 1990s on Leave Fare Concession (LFC). All these travels were made in Air India, which I guess was patronised by the corporate employer.
I have some nostalgic memories from air travels during the 1990s. During that decade, the economy class was commonly called ‘Y’ class. The air ticket used to be in booklet form containing couple of leaves. The economy class seats were as good as, or even better than, the first-class seats nowadays. At the commencement of the flight, the passengers were served welcome drinks and given hot towels. The kids were pampered with cookies and toffees. Our five-year-old daughter was much indulged by the air hostess on our trip to Trivandrum. Today’s air travel is a far cry from air travel during 1990s, especially for economy class passengers.
In the 1990s, the cushions of the seats used to be very thick and foamy. These days the cushion has become thinner, and seats have become narrower. The emergence of so-called ‘budget’ airlines has diluted the experience of air travellers. The budget airlines don’t offer any welcome drink and don’t give cotton buds for the ears. Meals are served on payment as per limited menu. Drinking water is given only on demand in very small quantity of 100 ml unless you buy a bottle.
During one of my travels in 1990s, I went to the washroom of an airport. At the washbasin, the faucet didn’t have knob. Confused, I stole a glance at others how they were handling the faucet. This was my first exposure to application of sensor. I merely had to place my hands just below the faucet and the water flowed. As I removed my hands, the flow stopped. It was a novel experience for me that time. Nowadays sensor technology is commonplace in many ways.
In the beginning I used to keep count of the number of times I had flown. After I had flown 4-5 times, I considered myself a veteran flier. Once on a Delhi-Hyderabad flight, the co-passenger seemed to be a first-time flier. After the plane took off and seat belt sign was put off, I looked forward for the meal to be served. The co-passenger, seated on the window side, peeped outwards curiously. The aeroplane deceptively looks stationary after gaining full ascent in the sky. Discerning no movement, he asked me in Hindi, “Gadi ruk gai hai kya?” (Has the vehicle stopped?).
I have experienced minor turbulence only once during my innumerable flights. Otherwise, it has always been smooth and safe. Air travel is the safest mode of travel if compared with incidence of road and rail accidents.
Just once in my lifetime I have travelled abroad. Boarding a late-evening flight from New Delhi we landed safely at Singapore in the morning. The journey was spent sleeping comfortably. The sleep was induced by two complementary drinks offered by the airline. This was the first time I savoured alcohol aboard an aircraft.
