Saturday 19 July 2014

Amsterdam, 19 July 2014

In one of life’s many ironic coincidental twists, I seem to be following the tragedy of Malaysian Airlines. I remember the uneasy shiver that overcame me when arriving in Bali a few months back, and reading my mom’s concerned email. I had been on a Malaysian Airlines flight via Kuala Lumpur, the very same day when MH 370 disappeared shortly after its departure from KL – without a trace, as we all found out over the coming weeks.
Today, I am travelling from Basel to Amsterdam, reading through 3 pages of newspaper articles on the passenger plane that was shot down over eastern Ukraine. The plane, again a Malaysian Airlines flight, took off from Schiphol less than 48 hours before my landing there. As I arrive, the airport is busy, burstling with people, I glance at watches, whiskey and whatnot in the duty free shopping area. Everything is business as usual. Of course – what else would you expect.

The newspaper also featured a paragraph on the future of the airline. A small photograph showed the MH director, who had offered to step down after the MH 370 disappearance, but then stayed on, because no one else wanted to deal with the messy situation. He, and his 19,000 employees, now get a 2nd chance at losing their jobs, along with the lost reputation of their airline. Ironic. Almost cynical.