Mr Mathur examining another bag with hope

New Delhi : The Indian aviation industry hit a new low in service standards yesterday when it was discovered that a passenger has been waiting for his luggage to come out of the baggage screening X Ray machine for almost a week, at the busy New Delhi Indira Gandhi International airport. “I missed my flight, my nephew’s wedding, my return flight, three important meetings & my wedding anniversary, but I am still hopeful that my luggage will come”, said Mr Mathur, a Kanpur based farmer turned businessman.

It all started as a normal day for Mr Mathur as he reached Delhi IGI. “I showed my tickets & ID card to the policeman & then walked towards the check in baggage screening area”, said Mr Mathur, tears swelling up his eyes as he recollected the events leading upto the fateful day. “Then I proceeded to the machine, slowly raised my suitcase & sent it on its way into the machine. The friendly airline staff gave the suitcase a good pat on its back & gently shoved it into the machine. The inspector on charge was alert & appeared to look forward to scan my suitcase. I gently walked around the machine to the other side, there was a long queue to collect luggage. And I have been waiting since then. It has been 6 days”.

“Fate plays a large role in delivering baggage safely, especially when we are talking hundreds & thousands of bags. But this is something new”

Aviation experts pointed out that in the airline business, lost luggage was not something entirely new. “Fate plays a large role in delivering baggage safely, especially when we are talking hundreds & thousands of bags. But this is something new”,said Jaikishen, a senior aviation expert. Karan, a frequent flyer waiting for a delayed flight offered some unsolicited, but friendly advice to Mr Mathur saying that the “magnetic” fields inside X Ray machines have been known to do funny stuff at times.

Mr Mathur has been living on tea & biscuits for the past one week and helping out the local police personnel by doing odd jobs. Ramesh Malhotra, a close friend told Utopia that “Mathur is the determined type. He will wait for a month, but he wont come without his bag”. Two days back, Mr Mathur offered to climb inside the X Ray machine to have a look, but security officials restrained him from doing so. Rambabu, a CRPF constable who has handled the X Ray duty for over three years said that small bags do get lost every now & then within the machine.

Representatives of the Low Cost Carrier issued a statement that they do not expect their passengers to carry anything valuable in their luggages. “Let us face it, if they had valuables in their baggage, they would probably be flying some other airline”, said George Jacob, the airport bus driver, doubling up as Asst Vice President, Customer Service. In an effort to get rid of the aggravated passenger, he has offered a plastic dutyfree bag and a bottle of mineral water as compensation. At the time of going to press, it is not clear if Mr Mathur accepts this offer.

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