Airport Insanity

Oh, it was such a good plan. 24 hours at home to dump stuff, do laundry, and hit the road again. We went to the airport at 1:00 am for a 4:00 am flight to Nairobi, where we would connect to Kampala, Uganda. There was the usual mass of people outside. When they (finally) announce the flight, everyone waiting and pushing outside is slowly funneled through two ID checks. So far, so good, after a line for security, and a line to pay export tax, we finally are in another line to actually check in.
Which is where we stood for the next 2 hours. Not moving. No announcement. We soon understood that all check-ins were being done manually. So one person was moving between the counters, okaying each boarding pass issued. Slow moving, to say the least. It was chaos, and people were starting to get upset, slowly realizing something was wrong.
It seems that they just issued tickets (manually) until they got close to full, knowing that they were many seats overbooked. Once they got close to capacity, the manager told all workers to STOP working and wait. After several more minutes (and now people are beginning to yell…), the manager finally pulled together the remaining 30 passengers in the lines. “People, we have a problem. We are overbooked. There are only eight seats left. We need to decide how to solve this.”
Immediately, people start pushing and yelling. In a true Lord of the Flies moment, it actually became people pleading their cases, with the manager the judge. A mother-in-law had died. UN aid workers whose visas were set to expire. UN workers going to Liberia, to which there is only one flight a week. I have never experienced anything like it.
In the end, the manager selected eight people. By then, we had removed ourselves from the pushing mob that followed his every step. I couldn’t make up a good enough story quick enough.
It seems that this was the result of carryover from yesterday, when the same thing happened. As those left passengers were guaranteed space on our flight, more people were pushed off. And the same will be true tomorrow, when we will become priority. The manager collected all of our tickets (which we very hesitantly handed over), and sent us on our way.
In the end, we spent 4 hours in the airport. They pushed us all outside, trying to put us into a big van to go to a hotel. Nobody listened when we respectfully told them that we didn’t need a hotel, just a ride to our house.
So how did it all end? It seems that when you yell, people listen. Emily finally found the manager and made it very clear that we were to be given a taxi to our house and a taxi to pick us up to come back to the airport tomorrow. And that’s when he actually listened. And smiled at us. After she yelled. Bizarre.
In the end, we lose a day in Uganda. But we should be confirmed on both of our flights that leave at the same night tonight. And we each receive a $500 voucher for Kenya Air or Duty Free. And we have to go through the process all over again tonight.
Don’t fly Kenya Air, folks.