From Rome to Home: Overcoming Travel Uncertainty

VUCA word is quiet popular in corporates, and this was also referred to, by Aparna in her post. Last week I experience the state of uncertainty, Complexity & Ambuguity.

My daughter was travelling from JFK/NY to Mumbai via Qatar Airlines. We were all preparing to welcome her on Airport, she was scheduled to reach Nashik on Sunday. But the news came on Saturday that her flight was diverted to Rome, Italy due to Doha Airspace closure due to War. This was shocking for all of us and we were really concerned about her well being.

The situation was so complex that no one was sure of her return. When we tried to connect with Qatar Airlines but there was no response. For them, the passengers stuck in War affected zones, were high priority. When we tried to contact with Indian Embassy, they said we will look into but never looked into.

We had slipless nights. The hanging future of her travel was difficult to digest.

Italian government issued the transit visa to all the stranded passengers and they were put into a nice hotel. The travellers were allowed to move freely in the city till the flights resume. We were continuously talking to her and keeping her morale high, so that she does not panic. In the meantime, she got a chance to look around in Rome and visit the famous places. That was good respite for her.

In the meantime, I contacted my Bosch colleagues working in Italy for help. Based on the discussion, it was realised that the Italian Airlines flights fly via other routes than Gulf. Then finally I got one ticket for Delhi from Rome. And she flew to Delhi & further to Nashik on 4th day. She reached home on 5th Day. It was surely the happy moment for us.

The ambiguity was so high that, when we tried to book Swiss Air or Luftansa flight, we were not clear about the visa requirements. And there was no clear channel of communication.

This ambiguity & complexity is highly stressfull.

Finally she reached home yestreday and we are all happy together.

Thank you my dear readers for stopping by. Stay Happy & Keep Smiling.