As promised, here are the details of our repatriation flight from Mumbai back to the U.S. If you haven’t read my last post then you should probably start there. That way you’ll have some additional background.
Rewind back to Wednesday, March 25th when the Government of India abruptly shut down all domestic and international flights when the lockdown went into effect. Prior to the 25th, things were still pretty normal in Mumbai, so I, for one, didn’t feel so panicky about getting out. Over the next 10 days though things began to change dramatically. Police blockades went up and movement in the city was severely curtailed. As a result the supply chain was greatly affected, limiting what you could get via Amazon or at a grocery store. At this point many Americans (myself included) found themselves desiring to return to the comfort of home. Unfortunately, there was no way to get there anymore.
It was shortly thereafter that the US Embassy in Delhi began conversations with the Government of India to see if they would allow us to bring chartered flights in to repatriate our citizens. After some back and forth, we were granted permission and it was then that the major operations began (both from Delhi & Mumbai).
Messages went out to all American Citizens living in our consular districts asking if they were interested in getting on the flight. The consular team set up a 24 hour a day call center to field questions and take bookings. Buses were chartered to go pick people up 10-15 hours away (remember, road passage was severely limited at this point so they would have had no other way to get to Mumbai). Domestic feeder flights were also chartered to bring in Americans living near Chennai and Hyderabad. It was quite the operation.
Our flight was scheduled for 10 PM on Saturday, April 4th but we were required to be there 4.5 hours early because these were abnormal circumstances and no one was sure how long it would take to get everything squared away.
We arrived at the airport and stood in a line outside the entrance for 30 minutes or so. We eventually got our temperature checked and then got checked in by a Consular officer at the door. We then proceeded to the queue for the ticketing counter.
I can’t even tell you how creepy the airport felt. Not a person in sight. Mumbai’s airport is one of the busiest in the world, which made this experience all the more eerie.
We stood in our next line for another 30 minutes or so and eventually got our tickets and luggage tags. None of the conveyor belts were working though, so we were required to bring our bags to another area for screening and manual transport to the plane.
Security and customs were a fraction of what they normally were but proceeded fairly normally. We then had our next shock as we entered the terminal area. The duty-free shopping area was completely shuttered.
Not a single restaurant or coffee shop was open, nor was the air-conditioning turned on. I was sweating profusely within minutes! And we still had 3 hours to wait…
We ended up boarding the plane around 9:15 pm. The U.S. Government had chartered a Delta 777 and I can’t tell you what a relief it was to see the flight crew walk up. I kept expecting something to go wrong, so you can imagine my relief when we finally stepped on to the plane.
The flight was nearly full and I’d say that the majority of people kept their masks on throughout the flight. Lots of people also sanitized their seat area with wipes upon boarding. Otherwise things felt pretty normal. The charter flight went direct from Mumbai to Atlanta and was 16 hours long. It was fairly uneventful. When we touched down in Atlanta the whole plane started clapping and saying “thank you”. It was a very touching moment.
We had around 50 elderly people on our flight and they got the entire First and Business Class section. The wheelchair lineup coming off the plane just kept going and going. I’ve never seen so many lined up in a row! After collecting our baggage I was shocked to find that there was no health screening or temperature check as we checked in again and went through security. It was all very chill. There were a surprising amount of restaurants open in the Atlanta airport too, so that was a plus.
We landed at 5:30 AM and still had two flights and a drive to go before we could rest! We had originally booked Atlanta to Salt Lake City and Salt Lake City to Redmond, OR (closest airport to Bend). Sadly, that got cancelled (along with many, many other flights) so our options were limited. We ended up routing through Minneapolis (guess who enjoyed a Caribou Mocha!!!) to Portland and then drove 3 hours from Portland to Bend. If I calculated it correctly, I think it was about 30 hours of transit time from beginning to end. Not fun.
We arrived in Bend around 5 PM Sunday night and enjoyed a lovely welcome dinner with Nick’s parents. Jet lag has been especially brutal this time around. Jumping back into work and school the day after arriving proved to be quite difficult as well. However, there is a real serenity about Bend that is undeniable. The natural beauty, fresh air and yummy coffee have been great for my soul and mental health!
Since our flight left on April 4th, the Consular team has coordinated 4 more flights and still has one to go this week. I am so grateful to our amazing team & reminded of the important work that Diplomats do overseas, especially in times of crisis. Hope all of you, dear readers, are staying safe and healthy. Sending you love in this difficult time!
