19 December 2001
DL 62
Boeing 767-332ER
Atlanta Hartsfield to New York John F. Kennedy
===============================================

I was originally booked on a flight to LaGuardia through Cincinatti, but I was swamped with work on Wednesday morning, so I decided to try to standby for the afternoon nonstop to JFK instead. I called Special Member Services and they kindly listed me for the requisite flight at 2pm.

Left the house around noon and grabbed MARTA down to Hartsfield. For the first time in ages, I would actually have checked bags, so I was somewhat apprehensive about the lines. Fortunately, the Medallion lines moved quickly and I finished my check-in formalities by 1245pm. Bag was tagged to JFK without a PPBM, even though I was not confirmed on the flight (which was oversold by about 20). When I asked, I was told that my Gold Medallion status exempted me from PPBMs. Comforting thought. Security lines stretched halfway to the MARTA station, but the special Gold/Platinum/First Class line was empty and I breezed through in mere minutes.

I took the train over to concourse E and headed straight to the Crown Room Club to get some more work done before the flight. Russ21ATL was working the desk and greeted me warmly. He checked the standby list and told me that I would probably be ok since it was still checked in about 15 under at the back and wide open up front. I got myself a Bacardi-Coke at the bar and headed to one of the office cubicles to finish my work.

I headed out to gate E9 around 140pm for the 2pm flight and was immediately chided by the rather pompous agent there for not showing up earlier. I told him that I was in the Crown Room, but he told me that I should have presented myself at the gate at least 30 minutes prior to departure. Uh huh, whatever. At least he cleared me to an aisle seat in coach, although I was somewhat annoyed that a number of non-Medallions had received operational upgrades. No biggie though, it's a short flight.

The boarding line was horrendously long and I didn't even bother joining it, choosing instead to sit down and spend the time filling out some FedEx airbills, much to the annoyance of the same agent. Evidently, he believes that he isn't playing his part for security unless he is able to inconvenience as many passengers as possible. Bite me.

I finally boarded N199DN right at the tail end of the process and noted that someone was already sitting in my assigned aisle seat 24F. I queried the FA and was told that the elderly gentleman was not comfortable with sitting in an exit row, so would I be willing to switch? Would I ever honey! I ensconsced myself in the bulkhead exit row 20F, noting with glee that 20G remained empty as well. Apart from that single seat and a couple of middle seats further back, the aircraft was packed to the gills.

We taxied out and were airborne quickly enough and I chatted with the two ATL based FAs on the jumpseats across from me. I mentioned that I was heading to India and they spent most of the flight asking questions about that since they had been contemplating a vacation there. There was a quick drink service and a screening of Delta Horizons, but we soon landed at JFK after a flight time of just 1:32

I headed straight to the Crown Room after arrival to finish up my work and dispatch my FedExes. I had to call the Air India layover hotel and confirm with the next day's commander that he was holding a jumpseat for me, which I did succesfully. I also managed to reach flyerwife on the phone and we set up a late dinner at my hotel on her way home from the city. I had managed to swing a great $35 rate at the Ramada Plaza through priceline.com and headed there for a quick nap before dhammer53 called and set up plans to meet for brunch the next morning at a place he reccomended in the East Village.

20 December 2001
New York, NY
================

Woke up early and called down to the front desk to ask about late checkout and baggage storage. They told me that checkout was 11am, extendable till noon but no longer and that they no longer store luggage for "security reasons". Cmon people, do you really think some terrorist wants to blow up the Airport Ramada? Don't flatter yourself.

Nonetheless, this put a cramp in my plans for the day. I could hardly drag a 40 lb suitcase to brunch with dhammer53, so I called him and tearfully arranged a raincheck. Checked out around 1230pm and grabbed a quick lunch in the hotel restaurant. Took the 2pm hotel shuttle out to the Delta terminal where I had arranged for a fully refundable ticket to Boston to be waiting for me *nudge nudge wink wink*. Those of you familiar with the Delta terminal 3 at JFK will recall that the layout is such that it allows you to take checked luggage all the way up to the Crown Room where they have storage available as long as you are using the Club. I was proud of myself for thinking of this loophole!

I chilled at the Crown Room for a couple hours surfing the web from the computers there and watching arrivals on runway 31L. Alas, no alcohol since I would be jumpseating tonight. Right around 4pm, I watched my ride touchdown smoothly from Heathrow and taxi to gate 22. I hung around for another hour and then headed over to Terminal 4 where the Air India checkin lines were already stretching around the block.

I asked at the service center who the duty manager was and fortunately it was one of the oldtimers who have known me for years, so I headed over to say hi and let him know that I would be on the flight tonight. He greeted me warmly and told me to hang around till the crew bus arrived and the captain formally approved my jumpseat request. Sure enough, the crew arrived a few minutes later and I was quickly pulled to the front of the line and handed a boarding pass for the jumpseat. After I checked in, I was quickly mobbed by Corrine and Maria, two of the FAs for JFK-LHR, and old family friends. They were upset that my dad never told them that I was gonna be on their flight, but I quickly pacified them and promised to come visiting inflight.

I had also been issued an invitation to the Swissport lounge when I checked in (what can I say, AI knows how to treat their nonrevs well ), but had been severely disapointed with it last time I flew throught there so I decided to skip and head straight through to gate B22. The lines at security were horrendous, but Corrine grabbed me and pulled me through with the crew so that was painless again. I was invited to pre-board, but I declined (when you are facing the prospect of spending the next 18 hrs of your life inside a metal tube, you want to delay that as long as possible) and instead went over to the free internet terminals in the departure area and got on Flyertalk Chat for a while.

20 December 2001
AI 102
Boeing 747-437
New York John F. Kennedy to London Heathrow
=============================================

I headed back to the gate around 645pm to find the boarding lines reaching halfway down the concourse. Due to the increased threats against Indian aircraft by Pakistan based terorist groups, ALL carry-on bags were being X-rayed and hand searched by Air India security personnel in addition to the airport security. During periods of "high alert" such as now, AI security does not allow any battery-powered devices (including laptops, walkmen, discmen, etc..), but allows you to check the batteries for pickup at destination. This is done to prevent the use of batteries to supply a charge to detonators for plastic explosives that can be easily sneaked on board (*cough*RichardReid*cough*). There was a tub full of brown envelopes, each sealed with a numbered plastic seal that served as the claim check. Unfortunately, this additional security caused our ETD to be pushed back by 40 minutes to 755pm.

I hung around with the security supervisor for a while and we made fun of the "worthless" security procedures adopted by the US carriers. Finally, I boarded at 730pm (without having my bags screened I should add, so much for stronger security!) after promising to pass on his "best wishes" to my dad, a sentiment that was to be oft repeated during this journey. Maria was the greeter at door 2L and she directed me to the 5L jumpseat until they could determine where to put me. Doors closed around 8pm and the Inflight Supervisor came around and briefed us on seating arrangements as the safety video played. There was one cabin seat open (58G) and the 5 jumpseaters decided to rotate between that seat and the 4 crewrest seats at the rear of E zone so that we could avoid the other jumpseat formalities. I drew the cabin seat for takeoff and headed out there, strangely enough the first ever time that I had sat in a coach seat on an Air India 744. Our aircraft today was VT-ESM, named "Konark" after the temple city in Eastern India.

Immediately after takeoff, the menus were distributed (yes, menus in coach) and the first drink service began. I had a Coke and immersed myself in the "Namaskaar" inflight magazine. The first movie screened was "America's Sweethearts" (following an insipid Hindi sitcom compilation) and I sat back and watched while the meal came around. Being the nonrev, I got last pick and the lamb was finished by the time I got my tray, but the chicken was excellent as usual. Even in coach, the Air India meals are restaurant quality unlike the crap that you get on most US carriers.

After dinner, I swapped out my seat with one of the others and headed upstairs to visit Corrine who was just winding up her Business Class meal service. I grabbed some of the icecream that was the desert there and helped them stow the leftovers. Edgar, the assistant purser upstairs, reccomended that I try the duck appetizer which had strangely gone largely untouched by the passengers. It was excellent, which left me wondering why no one had chosen it. Ah well, more for me then! I helped them set up the self service drink-and-snack bar at the rear of the cabin and then hung out in the galley with them chatting about the state of the airline industry in general.

A while later, the captain came *visiting* (in truth, he wanted a second round of icecream) and joined our conversation. After about 30 minutes, he realized that he really shouldn't be leaving the poor co-pilot alone so he invited me to continue the conversation from the cockpit. We headed up there and spent an enjoyable hour or so discusssing RJs and their short field performace relative to higher end turboprops like the Dash8. We also made fun of the poor Lufthansa A340 that had begun a parallel oceanic track ahead of us but had fallen behind during the crossing.

As we approached the Irish coast and SELCAL gave way to Shanwick, the sun began peeping over the horizon. I've seen it many times, but I still sat spellbound as we hurtled in silence through the cloudless dawn sky at 37000 feet, instruments twinkling in the twilight as streaks of orange began appearing ahead of us, gradually at first, but then swiftly blossoming into a full fledged new day. I was awakened from my reverie by a request to "pass the Jepps" and realized from a quick glance at the altimeter that we had already commenced our initial approach and were descending through 27000 feet.

I quickly took my leave with many thanks for the ride and headed to the lav to freshen up. The Business Class breakfast service was just ending, so I grabbed a warm croissant from the galley on my way down. As I headed to my seat, I was discreetly handed a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon by the Inflight Supervisor along with a message of "best regards to your father". We touched down at Heathrow a few minutes later and docked at gate 6 just about 45 minutes late at 740am. Our onward flight was scheduled for 855am, but experience has taught me that it is impossible to prep a 744 in under 2 hours at Heathrow, especially not with the heightened security.

21 December 2001
London, UK
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I hung around till most of the passengers had exited the aircraft and then thanked the crew for a great flight before heading onto the jetway. I was immediately stopped by one of the London staff who had spotted my name on the passenger manifest and greeted me warmly. He told me that he had instructed the Maharaja Lounge to expect me and that I should "get as much rest as you can" since the flight was oversold by 226 and the captain had already approved my jumpseat request.

I headed through the flight connection center without any hassles and took the elevator up to the Maharaja Lounge which is located right above the Duty Free shops. Once again, I was welcomed with open arms. I parked my rollaboard in the luggage room and made a beeline for the breakfast buffet which had just been replenished. I ate some chicken tikka and paneer (cottage cheese) rolls, and then settled down in one of the comfy chairs with a copy of the Daily Telegraph and a cup of coffee from the self-service bar.

Around 820am, we were informed that the flight would be delayed 30 minutes because of *additional security* and that we had a tentative departure slot for 930am. I took the opportunity to check email and to telephone N866DA who had just got home from work. Around 9am, we were informed that boarding had commenced and that we should make our way to the gate. On the way, I was accosted by one the catering staff who raised the million dollar question, "do you have the turkey?".

For the last 15 years or so, my dad had made a tradition of carrying a giant turkey from London to India for our Christmas dinner. These turkeys were always carried in the passenger cabin, usually deep frozen and packed in dry ice and involved logistics and bureaucracy that FedEx could only dream of. As a result, the turkey legend had assumed a life of its own and my dad had been deluged with offers from various crew members (and from the LHR catering manager) to keep the tradition alive. This year, it had been flown down from Chicago in a 3 crew relay a few days earlier, much to the disappointment of the London staff.

The security lines at gate 6 had dissipated by the time we arrived and I quickly had my bags hand searched and transit card collected. I was about to board when another one of the London staffers flagged me down to send "warmest regards" to my dad. Talk about living in someone's shadow, huh?

21 December 2001
AI 102
Boeing 747-437
London Heathrow to Mumbai Chattrapati Shivaji International
===========================================================

I boarded last and immediately headed to the rear of the aircraft where I stowed my rollaboard in the closet by the crew rest. We were on a 4 pilot operation today because of the airspace restrictions in the Middle East and the open seats were 3L inboard, 3R inboard, 4R inboard and U/D bench, plus the 4 crew rest seats. Our total load today was the most people I have ever shared an aircraft with, a total of 494 souls on board (16 First, 34 Business, 385 economy, 24 crew, 27 infants, 8 jumpseaters). The FA sharing the 4R jumpseat with me quickly went over the essential information for jumpseaters (location of portable oxygen, spare life jackets, door arm/disarm mechanism for land/water, flashlight location, emergency all call/pilot alert codes on the interphone system, etc...) and I helped her doublecheck the galley stowage as we taxied out. I'm usually a 1R or upstairs rider, so I quickly reviewed my emergency equipment stowage chart to refamiliarize myself with the equipment at the rear of the aircraft. Strangely enough, the "takeoff stations" announcement came pretty quickly and we had to scramble to strap in before we rolled onto the active runway 27L.

There is no better way to appreciate the power of the PW 4000 engine than from a rear facing jumpseat at the back of the aircraft. The G-forces press you into the hard back of the folding seat and at rotation you are very grateful for your shoulder harness. As soon as we cleared 10000 feet, the crew popped up to start prepping the breakfast service, and I headed to a quieter location to grab a nap. My selected location was the 2R outboard jumpseat, which is contained by solid bulkheads and has minimal traffic flowing past it.

The key to sleeping on a jumpseat is to trust your harnesses. If you can relax and let yourself go in the harness, it will take care of everything for you and you can sleep like a baby. What I usually do is take an inflatable travel pillow and place it around the FRONT of my neck to support my chin and a regular pillow behind the head. Tighten the shoulder harnesses so that you can't slip out of them and set the lap belt loose enough to not bite into your bladder, and you are set.

I slept for about 3 hours and then awakened just as the Hindi movie "Dil Chahta Hai" was getting started as the second feature. Fortunately it was subtitled in English, so I was able to watch it on the overhead monitor without any headphones. Towards the end of the movie, I received a visit from the Inflight Supervisor and we sat for a while discussing the abnormally high load factors on the US-India sectors this winter. He eventually left with yet another "regards to your father" message. My next visitor was the Business Class purser with a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne "with my best regards to your father" and by the time I was done stowing it in my bag (still in the rear crewrest closet), it was time for the second meal service. I headed back to 2R and stayed out of the way while they completed the service before grabbing an extra foil in the galley when the carts returned.

Our flight time today was scheduled to be a relatively lengthy 8h35m, due to the need to circumvent Afghan airspace, and due to Air India's operational decision to not utilize Pakistan airspace. Watching the airshow on the video console at 2L, I saw us head south as soon as we crossed from Turkey into Iran, avoiding the no-fly zone in Northern Iraq and then hug the coast from Bandar Abbas all the way past Pakistan until we hit Indian airspace around the Rann of Kutch before beginning our descent above Surat.

I retrieved my rollaboard from the closet and stowed in behind the jumpseat at 4R before strapping down for final approach. We came in to runway 27, giving us a panoramic view of the lights of the Thane Creek Bridge glistening above the dark water. I was slightly alarmed that we crossed the threshold pretty high, but we put down rather heavily about a third of the way down the runway before exiting at the last turnoff by the domestic terminals. There were a whole host of A320s and A300s in Indian Airlines colors, 737s in Jet Airways and Air Sahara livery and a handful of Jet Airways ATRs. We taxied past the Northwest 744 just in from Detroit and Amsterdam before parking between an Air France A340 and a Malaysian 777.