Putting the British in their place- Admiral Krishnan I heard this anecdote from Vice Admiral Bharat Bhushan. Bhushan then a Commander, was traveling to Addis Ababa on a posting by the then BOAC. Admiral Krishnan was also in the flight. Due to financial stringency both were flying economy class. The plane which was near empty was going to Addis Ababa with a stopover at Nairobi. Economy seats were not comfortable those days. Krishnan who was roly poly was quite uncomfortable. As the plane was empty, he requested the steward whether he could occupy a club class seat and be more comfortable. The steward haughtily replied “I am afraid you can’t Sir. BOAC plays by IATA rules. We cannot move you to club class.“ He was quite curt and abrupt. Krishnan was hurt but kept quiet. As there were no passengers getting down at Nairobi and no one boarding also, the pilot skipped Nairobi and started flying direct to Addis Ababa, to save fuel. Krishnan wanted to stretch his legs at Nairobi and asked when they would reach the Airport. He was told that the plane was overflying Kenya as there were no passengers deplaning or boarding at Nairobi. Krishnan saw his chance and pounced like an eagle. He insisted that the plane should return to Nairobi as he had to meet someone at the airport! Also IATA rules did not permit skipping stops. He raised his voice and threatened to report BOAC to IATA and that he would the Airline to the cleaners! Those days, there were heavy fines for such violations. There would also be bad publicity. Alarmed, the steward ran to the pilot. The pilot came to Krishnan, apologized for the inconvenience and offered to upgrade him to first class!. Krishnan made him crawl before he consented. He was lionized for the rest of the flight. Bhushan was delighted that the bumptious SOBs were put in their place.
Posted on: Sun, 02 Feb 2014 01:39:54 +0000
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