Try taking off in this traffic

Try taking off in this traffic
Catching a flight is a nightmare these days.
The Times of India

TODAY, the latest conversation starters are the “Imissed-my-flight-due-to-bad-traffic” stories. With perpetual jams on Airport Road being the norm, it’s no longer possible to say “I live 15 minutes away from the airport.” Because chances are, it might take you up to two hours to get there to catch a flight anyway.

Multinational manager Rajesh Mani is fed up. “I’ve missed flights thrice, and once turned back after 45 minutes on Airport Road. I’ve even tried changing routes, but there are similar jams everywhere. Tonight, I’m taking a train to Chennai instead.”

Corporate head TG Tiger Ramesh says, “All three approach roads to the Airport have major bottlenecks. From Whitefield, the railway overbridge and Marathahalli are major problems. Old Madras Road always has heavy traffic. And Airport Road itself is jinxed. You can never predict the time it will take to reach the airport. We advise our Whitefield visitors to leave two hours before.” Recently, he was the last to board a flight. Only some quick talking got him on. An airport official with a leading airline calls the Airport Road traffic “a perpetual problem.” The worst times are during morning and evening rush hours, he admits. “About 10 per cent of our passengers are late or miss flights — that’s a big number.” While check-in counters usually close 30 minutes before take-off, they sometimes stretch it to 15 minutes for their frequent flyers. This is when they have to close. “While issuing boarding passes takes two minutes, the subsequent paperwork for the captain, essential before take-off, takes longer. “Sometimes passengers call saying they’re stuck near the flyover or the hospital and we tele-check them in. But beyond this, we’re helpless. We can’t change flight schedules.”

The Airport Road traffic has deteriorated over the last six to eight months, he adds. “The airlines have together made representations to the government, but not received any response. The worst is when passengers miss international connections, visa appointments, weddings and funerals. It’s tough seeing someone whose parent has died, sobbing at the counter.”Airline traffic superintendent BV Rao says, “We do make occasional adjustments, but it’s the same rule in Mumbai, or anywhere else.” But Mumbai doesn’t have incomplete flyovers causing bottlenecks, or the explosion of traffic which Bangalore has seen lately. “The situation is bad. But no one seems to have any solutions.”