“I wish I hadn’t seen that,” I told Mr. Johnson last spring as we were connecting through Shanghai.
We had an evening connection home to QD. We had duly waited for our connection, boarded the bus that would shuttle us to the aircraft, and climbed the rolling stairway in the darkness. The little girls were each holding one of my hands as we climbed the steps, somewhere around their usual bedtime. And it happened.
The pilot, a fifty-something Chinese man, was rapping on the glass… beaming and waving wildly at our three blondes.
“Great,” I thought, “this clown is going to pilot us home.”
But today, just before we boarded our tin can to Chicago (we’re flying on a CRJ700 regional jet, seating capacity 66) I saw our pilot. I think he was twelve. And the co-pilot, he’s probably MGJ’s age.
And suddenly that 50+ clown in Shanghai seemed more credible. He was probably retired military. Trained by the air division of the People’s Liberation Army. And, that’s the kind of resume I like to think of, when cruising at 15,000 feet.
Because I checked in today with children, we got the glamorous seats-in-the-very-back-by-the-toilet.
The flight attendants, who might be college students, are seated directly behind us.
I just overheard, “Are you friends with so and so,” and I immediately knew she meant facebook friends, not look-them-in-the-eye-go-out-for-coffee-or-shoe-shopping-friends.
I turned around discreetly and discovered the female attendant was wearing her ipod ear buds and doing the connect the dot children’s puzzle from the in-flight magazine.
Bei Bei bemoaned, “We flew all the way from Qingdao to see our grandparents, but this flight to America” is so long.
“Don’t worry,” I consoled her. “There’s a dot-to-dot puzzle in your seat pocket.”
3 comments:
I kind of hate to say this, but the former military pilots who worked in our flight school were worse pilots than our newly trained students. Seriously. Bad. :( (Let's just hope that they were also the worst of the military pilots, which is why they ended up where they did and not at an airline.)
The truth of the pilot situation in China is that the airline pilots who were originally trained in the US flight schools and have had years of experience in the Chinese airlines are the ones you want, not the former military pilots. Fortunately, the FAA and the CAAC have been working together for the past decade to improve safety among these former military pilots. (The #1 problem was the attitude - the "I'm the captain you'll do what I say" attitude.) I don't mean to alarm you, Chinese airlines have an extremely good safety record and I have no qualms flying them!
Thanks, GG, for your inside scoop info! I certainly understand what you mean (it's the same in many professions here... go to the local PSB, and the crew under 40 are far more likely to help you out, than the crew over 40 with crew cuts, smoking mid-grade cigarettes under the No Smoking sign!)
I was mostly just appalled by how young both pilots looked, and how completely casual and cavalier the flight attendants were on the YEG - ORD flight.
Always love to hear from you... especially with your background in this area! How are things going for you and the DH? Any progress?
Jen
Yes, I too have noticed that the FAs on Chinese airlines are really casual. Not sure why that is!
As for the DH and I, we are going on 4 weeks waiting for the Madrid Consulate to make a decision on DH's visa. Crazy!
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