In this day and age, when the third world countries made a phenomenal effort to improve their airports, India’s International Airport in Bombay is still fifty years behind in everything. I do not understand why most of the international flights leave this city only after midnight (so that you don’t see the slums from the air or folks’ bare butts as they attend the call of the nature in the open areas adjacent to the airport?.
No other airports have so many staff walking around and doing nothing. Hundreds of sweepers are employed here around the clock, most of the times they sit around, occupying the passenger seats in large groups and talking very loud. At one time I counted 28 of them sitting and arguing about something. During the long wait here, I couldn’t help noticing some of the actions of these airport employees.
A lady swept the floor in the washroom, gathered the trash from inside and accidently dropped it on the floor near a large garbage pail. She then used her bare hands to pick up the trash, mostly wet paper, and deposited them into the pail. Very next to this garbage pail was a place where you get water to drink. I think the paper cups were getting low. The same person who just collected piles of garbage from the floor with her bare hand now took out a supply of paper cups stored nearby and placed them in the holder near the water container. Is it her job to do that, or she was just helping someone out of her own good will? People handling these type of jobs should be taught the basic hygiene.
Bombay is such an important port of entry for international travelers arriving in India. The traffic has been multiplied several times since it was built, but no efforts have been made to expand or improve the conditions for the international passengers. Thank goodness, it could have been worse, but I stopped flying in Air India after my nightmare at the ticket counter and inside the flight years ago. AS for the Bomabay International, it is about time, the government takes some initiative to improve this badly neglected airport, which makes a first and last impression in the minds of travelers.
There is absolutely no passenger comfort here. If you happened to get stuck in this airport, there is not even a television to kill the time. The building is very old and dirty , and spending any time inside this airport is sheer torture. Due to a flight delay I got stuck here for 12 hours on 7 May, 2002 from 4 p.m. on. I should have taken the flight out from Delhi or Madras, now I know better.