Standby Travel

“Last call for Lufthansa flight 743 to Bangkok – the last remaining passengers are requested to go to gate number 2 immediately!”

“Where was she!” He was more than worried – panic stricken. “Had she been kidnapped by those Arab terrorists! Everyone around here looks shifty!” He thought.

She had disappeared into the ladies’ toilets a long time ago. He felt bewildered, lost, jaded from the lack of sleep and the continued long journey, the never-ending journey, to an unknown destination, to an unknown situation. This was the first time he left the shores of his country of birth and cut the umbilical cord of his sheltered upbringing. He felt inexperienced in dealing with the new sights and sounds around every corner. It was the reason he had struck up the conversion with the stranger in the first place. He was desperate for conversion, and reassurance. He was alone, and far away from his comfortable life, there were just too many new events to deal with, so many new challenges, it was eroding his adventurous spirit, his romantic notion and anticipation of his journey to an unknown destination, to unknown people had disappeared in Frankfurt.

How many hours ago was that? He looked at his watch, these time zone changes were so bewildering.

It had all started as he waited patiently for his name to be called out. The joys of standby travel he thought. Never knowing until the last few minutes whether his long journey would commence, or would he be forced to find a cheap hotel for the night, or even a vacant chair in the airport departure lounge and try again the next day. At the boarding gate that night in Frankfurt he could see for himself, he wasn’t alone in feeling anxious, tense from not knowing the outcome. The waiting standby passengers knew the flight would leave on time, that was the only certainty in the situation, but whether they would be sitting on board when the aircraft doors closed, or left behind at the gate area watching the flashing lights of the jet airline disappearing into the dark night, contemplating alternative plans – it was that imagined reality that caused the increasing tension, and with every passing minute, the tension morphed into panic.

He pondered his decision to travel on standby. Travel or not to travel and then wait another day, for the next available flight, the next available seat going to his final destination – Sydney, Australia.

He searched around the other faces waiting patiently for their names to be called out, to know their fate, their destiny. When he scanned their anxious faces, a lady with glasses smiled back at his searching gaze. It was an opportunity to strike up a conversation, all the waiting passengers were in the same situation of pending anxiety, his need to speak to someone was potent, to share the anxiety was so vivid, and yet poignant at the same time. It was with sad irony, that every time someone was called forward, and successfully handed a boarding pass, it was one less seat for the rest of the waiting passengers on standby. Watching the passenger step forward from the waiting crowd as their name was called out, and then being handed the treasured boarding pass, seemed like a winning ticket in a raffle, it was felt by those remaining with mixed feelings, but eventually with a feeling of envy.

“Hi!” He stammered at the girl in glasses with a friendly smile in the waiting crowd.

“Guten Abend!” Was the first reply from the smiling girl in glasses.

He had forgotten he was now in a German speaking country, how stupid he thought. It knocked his confidence, assuming everyone spoke English, he felt so untraveled, so inexperienced and vulnerable.

The girl must have noticed his embarrassment. She laughed, it was a laugh full of fun and gaiety, a confident laugh.

“It’s OK – I’m English; from Canterbury, I live in Koln with my husband Jost. This standby travel takes years from your life – don’t you agree? Where are you trying to get to?”

He regained some of his composure, as she spoke, the girl with glasses with the friendly smile, and confident laugh, had cleverly recognized so many things in his awkwardness, his strangeness, his anxiety amongst the waiting passengers. She recognized that there were so many new experiences for him, not just the tension of the standby travel.

“Sydney.” He replied.

“Wow, you are ambitious – Sydney, that’s a difficult one.” She exclaimed, and then explained.

“Well, that’s the end stop of this flight. Before Sydney it has stopovers at Karachi, Bangkok, Singapore and then finally Sydney! You are up against it; the odds are stacked against you. We are travelling to Singapore, which is stretch, but Sydney – good luck!”

By the time she had finished the news bulletin, or the facts of life regarding his slim chances of boarding the flight that night, his last remnants of false confidence disappeared. His face showed shock and disappointment at the news from the girl with glasses and a friendly smile. It was truly a reality check.

“I thought we were all waiting to board to Sydney.” He said hopelessly.

“Don’t worry, I think we all get on tonight, there’s plenty of seats to Bangkok” she said reassuringly. “No one goes to Karachi, it’s unsafe there anyway! But our chances of making it through Bangkok are slim, and your chances of making through Singapore are next to zero. Sorry to break your world. I phoned and checked, I asked someone earlier.”

He noticed others in the crowd eavesdropping on the conversation. It seemed he wasn’t alone in lacking information. The eavesdroppers listened, and then passed the information along, as though they had found buried treasure.

A tall man with glasses appeared from behind the girl with glasses, also with the friendly smile, and poked out a long arm. “Wie gehts, ich bin Jost!”

He shook the inviting extended hand of Jost, he was tall, and his handshake was strong.

“My name is Sarah.” Came the introduction from the girl with glasses and a friendly smile.

The introductions in the waiting crowd gave him some comfort for some reason, he felt they were all comrades, strangers sharing a connection in a challenging tense situation – waiting for their names to be called forward from the throng, from the crowd of patiently waiting standby passengers.

“Mr. Thetford – come forward please.”

He was jolted into the present by the announcement over the loudspeaker, as the uniformed lady behind the desk searched the crowd for the person behind the name.

As he approached the desk with trepidation, he felt all the eyes of the waiting standby passengers on his back, thinking why him?

“Mr. Thetford?”

“Yes.”

“Can you show me your passport, please.”

He did as he was directed.

“Mr. Thetford, we have some good news, and some bad news tonight – what do you want first?” The uniformed lady was in complete charge of the situation, she smiled at her own witty introduction.

“Good news.” He stammered.

“Well – we have a seat for you on the aircraft tonight!” The uniformed lady said it, as though she was offering him a precious gift, she acted like she owned the airline.

“What’s the bad news?” He asked.

“We can’t take you to Sydney, we can take you to Bangkok instead.”

She said it with glee, as though it was a birthday treat.

She then said with equal efficiency and sternness. “We need a decision right now, or we will give the seat to another passenger, and offload your bags.”

The mention of bags triggered yet another concern. “My bag it’s tagged on standby to Sydney.”

“Not anymore it isn’t.” The uniformed lady was efficient and one step ahead, completely in charge, as she showed him, his boarding pass to Bangkok, and a new bag tag for Bangkok.

“So, what’s your decision, Mr. Thetford?”

“I’ll take the seat to Bangkok.” It was his voice, but it was one of the many unheard and chaotic voices in his head trying to shout to be heard in the internal mayhem, as the tumultuous discussions going on inside his head continued, all his debating thoughts, trying to make the best decision. It would have taken all night to come to a decision, which ever one thought had provoked his vocal cords, it was a decision to go forward, facing whatever consequences.

Now he was on course to go to Bangkok, not Sydney, which meant his planned rendezvous with the unknown had already been disrupted.

As he entered the unfamiliar noisy environment of the aircraft, the sole focus of the cabin crew was to get all the passengers settled into their seats, including seat belt announcements, safety checks, and stowage of luggage. This was the era of the first intercontinental jetliners, the spacious wide-bodied aircraft of today for long-haul travel was still on the drawing boards. As he entered the aircraft door and turned left into the busy economy cabin, turning right was the first-class cabin. In those days air travel was for the wealthy, low-cost airline travel, with the entrance of Laker Airways into the air travel industry was still years away, in Freddie Laker’s dreams.

Intercontinental jet airliners only had a range of a maximum 6-7 hours, and that’s the reason traveling by air to Australia from Europe took a circumvented route, in this instance, Frankfurt to Karachi to Bangkok to Singapore and then finally to Sydney was nearly 24 hours of flying time.

He was ushered to his seat by a stressed stewardess. The middle seat in the emergency exit row. He was tall, so having the ability to stretch his legs, was evened out by the disadvantage of the middle seat. At least he didn’t need to wake his seated neighbours in the middle of the night to go to the toilet. The seat pitch in those days was more convenient for people with long legs, nonetheless, emergency exit seats haven’t changed over the years, and he thanked his blessing for this seat for next 7 hours, although he knew it wasn’t going to take him to Sydney.

There was no in-flight entertainment in those days, it was either bringing your own book, knitting or sleep. He couldn’t sleep, there were too many thoughts swirling in his head. Life can be smooth sailing for years, and then in a moment, a storm can take you in a direction and place that was never planned. It’s called adventure, but by another name uncertainty. He had always dreamed of adventures, to faraway destinations, but the events and circumstances he was experiencing now made him feel uneasy. He didn’t like to feel out of control. The adventure of going to Sydney, a new destination, and then to meet people he had never met before had been rationalized against his comfortable psyche, but the added jeopardy of the recent standby travel experience, and the result of not knowing when he would arrive, or even whether he would arrive at his final destination at all, was now gnawing endlessly into that adventurous spirit, his confidence was evaporating together with the stuffy hot air of the confined cabin space and being whipped into the air conditioning vents of the aircraft.

The continued hum of the outside engines was taking him further and further eastbound, every single minute he was getting further away from his homeland. He must have dozed, when he opened his eyes there were flecks of colour appearing outside the aircraft, dawn was approaching from the east, as the aircraft met the brighter skies from the west. It was the first time he experienced the fast-approaching dawn from 30,000 feet, it remains a wonder of this beautiful world, as it is today and every day.

After the experiences of airports in London and Frankfurt, Karachi landing strip was a shock.

The lack of buildings, the lack of any infrastructure, just a tarmac runway, and very open and empty apron, their aircraft stood alone, stark against the early morning sky. The engines sighed from the seven hours of flying effort, as they idled to a stop, and there was an announcement that those in transit could disembark if they so desired. He peered outside at the solitary building, which looked more like a school building than any airport arrival or departure building. He needed some fresh air and to stretch his cramped legs.

He met Sarah on the bus. They greeted each other like veterans, which in a sense they were. Veterans of the standby boarding experience at Frankfurt.

Sarah’s greeting him a hug wearing her glasses and a friendly smile. “We saw you board! We were the last to be called, so many were left behind last night. I’m sure I saw some empty seats.” Sarah always had all the information.

“Where’s Jost?” He asked.

“He’s asleep. He sleeps on every flight. Did you sleep?” she said.

“I guess I did. You were right, they only allowed me to travel to Bangkok. I don’t know what I’m going to do, people are expecting me in Sydney tomorrow morning.”

“You’ll need to call them when you arrive in Bangkok, when you know more about your situation.” Sarah, always the sensible one, observed.

“Don’t worry. Bangkok is a great place, you’ll see.” She said with encouragement.

The old bus suddenly stopped in front of the lookalike school building, Karachi airport building. When they got off the bus, a uniformed man gave them boarding cards. It echoed inside the building, it was empty except for a few chairs that all needed repair, and a small shop, selling cigarettes and tea.

“I’m going to the toilet.” Sarah announced

“OK – see you at the boarding gate.” He replied. That was 5-10 minutes ago. She must have been kidnapped he thought.

He walked to the boarding gate; Sarah was nowhere to be seen. Most of the passengers had boarded the bus, and he lingered in front of the boarding counter.

“Sir are you a passenger for flight number 743 to Bangkok?” said the uniformed man politely.

“Yes.” he said hesitantly.

“You need to board the bus now; you are the last passenger.” The uniformed man informed him.

“I’m missing a lady, she in the toilet, she wears glasses. I think she’s been kidnapped.” He stuttered.

“Calm down Sir. You are the last to board. She must have already boarded, please hurry sir, we can’t wait forever.”

He handed the boarding pass to the uniformed man, and walked to the bus, it was small no bigger than a small transit van. To his utter dismay Sarah was not on the bus, only two other passengers. She must have been kidnapped, where had she gone, he fretted. This must be a conspiracy, maybe the boarding gate agent is part of the subterfuge, concern and panic started to flare in his confused mind.

Once he entered the aircraft, after running up the boarding steps, he literally jumped on the stewardess by the aircraft door.

“A passenger has been kidnapped in the ladies’ toilets back there in the airport building. You can’t leave yet. They wouldn’t listen to me, but she never boarded the bus.” He blurted out.

“Calm down sir. Everybody is on board. We have already counted, everybody is accounted for, except you, you are the last!” The stewardess replied, trying to control her frustration with his ranting.

“Please take a seat, we are about to close the doors.” She said finally.

“Can I check to see myself; I still believe she has been kidnaped, and there could a suspicious character on board, a terrorist perhaps!” He pleaded

Whether the word terrorist triggered the following reaction from the stewardess, anyway she snapped.

“You take your seat now and stop these ridiculous accusations. Otherwise, I will call the security services to have you evicted off this departing aircraft. Take your seat NOW!” She shouted.

He took his seat submissively, without a further word. Back in the middle seat in the exit row, he suffered obediently for the whole of long daytime flight to Bangkok.

As soon as the aircraft stopped, and the doors opened, a small Thai man recking of spicy food, with a bright yellow bib, and a clip board stood in front of the middle seat of the exit row.

“Mr. Thetford, Sawadi Kap!” The little Thai man enquired.

“Yes.” He said.

“You must come with me; we need your seat for a passenger going to Singapore. You must disembark now.”

He followed the little Thai man down the aircraft steps into another world. It was night, but the heat and humidity instantly charged his body, moisture was being sucked from his body, ever single pore of his body explored with perspiration. The scenes at Bangkok airport were the complete opposite to Karachi, this was airport and destination that was tumultuously alive, noisy, and utter bedlam. His senses were completely bewildered with new experiences, not only the attack of nighttime humidity, the attack of noise, the attack of pungent smells of diesel fumes, kerosene fumes, the attack to his sight, where the frantic deranged driving of numerous vehicles always moments and inches from collision. Aircraft scattered and parked in haphazard positions, never in neat rows. It was a catastrophic mess.

He had arrived in Bangkok, Thailand the region formerly known as Indo China during the Vietnam War. He would remember the moment, that first image, those smells for the rest of his life.

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Postscript

He spent a week in Bangkok with Sarah and Jost, unimaginable from the Bangkok of today.

Eventually, the departing aircraft from Bangkok destined to Sydney was hit by lightning. A frightening experience for all onboard. A pregnant passenger couldn’t wait to have her baby, and the flight diverted to Darwin to take her to hospital.

On his delayed arrival in Sydney, he was told that the people he was supposed to meet, had left for Bangkok.