The "first" Labor Day for the domestic large aircraft C919 crew, the passenger load factor is nearly 100%
"May Day" is a holiday for workers. This year's "May Day" is an ordinary but extraordinary working day for the crew of China Eastern Airlines C919. This is their "first" Labor Day spent with a domestically produced large aircraft.
Captain "Wang Da" grew up with domestic large aircraft
Captain Wang Jiang, who has 21 years of flying experience, is now the deputy general manager of the C919 Flight Department of China Eastern Airlines. He also has a well-known honor - he has won the title of "Large Aircraft Struggler" twice. Because of his seniority and personability, the crew members who flew with him affectionately called him "Wang Da".
On the afternoon of May 1, he completed the pre-flight inspection rigorously and meticulously as usual, stepped into the cockpit of the C919, exchanged holiday greetings with his colleagues, and flew from Shanghai Hongqiao to Xi'an with a full load of passengers.
Xi'an is a popular tourist destination during the holidays. The travel peak on the first day of the holiday and the attractive IP of domestic large aircraft made the passenger load factor of this flight MU2160 close to 100%.
"Wang Da, this is the flight log for passengers on today's flight." The flight attendant handed Wang Jiang a thick stack of flight logs. Wang Jiang carefully opened it and signed in response. Since it was Labor Day, he saw that the logbook was full of holiday blessings from passengers and flying friends to the crew. These logs and messages are unique features of flight C919. In fact, not only during holidays, the flights operated by C919 are almost full of passengers. Wang Jiang also met many flying friends who flew with him on return flights. At most, he could receive thirty or forty books on one flight. Flight log. There are also many passengers who will specially take photos of C919 and put various "beautiful photos" of the aircraft in their logbooks to give to the crew as souvenirs. During the flight, he felt the enthusiasm of passengers for domestically produced large aircraft, and also felt the heavy responsibility on his shoulders.
Wang Jiang said that C919 is like a "good partner" who grew up together with him. As early as 2014, Wang Jiang was selected as one of three C919 test pilots jointly trained by China Eastern Airlines and COMAC; in 2017, he joined the first C919 user evaluation committee; in 2022, the C919 Flight Department of China Eastern Airlines was established, and he became the first Batch the captain. In addition to spending "May Day" with C919 for the first time, he also witnessed many "firsts" of C919: the first commercial operation, the first time to open three routes, the first time to serve the Spring Festival, and the most unforgettable one for him Yes, for the first time, the world's first C919 flew to Singapore to participate in the air show, and I personally participated in and experienced the success of the domestically produced large aircraft in its overseas debut.
What moved him most deeply was not only these "firsts", but also the growth and changes in his mentality after becoming the first batch of managers of C919. "In the past, when flying other types of aircraft, we only thought about ensuring safety, but now, we also have to think about how to do a good job in the large aircraft business." Wang Jiang is now the leader of the C919 Flight Innovation Studio, investing in safe operation training, comprehensive aircraft Optimization, flight talent training and other work. He also serves as a flight instructor. With the goal of building an expert C919 flight team of "pilots, researchers, and designers", he has organized more than 40 C919 Dream Realization Lectures a year to lead pilots to focus on learning and seminars. "After flying, we will let pilots who have in-depth research in a certain field give lectures on stage, such as air conditioning systems, emergency procedures, etc., and we will encourage them to share their experiences and help everyone familiarize themselves with new technologies. model."
Wang Jiang has two daughters. Usually having a father who is a captain should be something worth showing off to the children, but his daughter has no idea. Until last year, he went to give a lecture about domestically produced large aircraft to his first-grade daughter's class, and the classmates all cast envious glances at his daughter. He said: "When I got home, my daughter said to me, Dad, you are so powerful!" Wang Jiang's eyes sparkled, and this light came from the pride of joining the large aircraft business.
A flight attendant from Chongqing, overlooking his hometown on a large domestic aircraft
"Haiqi, your hometown is ahead of you." On the C919 Shanghai Hongqiao-Chengdu Tianfu flight, when flight attendant Liu Haiqi was delivering meals to the crew, the captain reminded her that Chongqing was ahead of the plane.
Liu Haiqi, the flight attendant of China Eastern Airlines C919, is a girl born and raised in Chongqing. Joined China Eastern Airlines in 2016, and with his excellent business capabilities, he will become the first batch of C919 flight attendants in 2022. In January this year, she and Captain Wang Jiang participated in the "debut" of C919 in Singapore. Since her job as a flight attendant involves flying all over the world, she may only have time to return to her hometown once a year. Since the first commercial flight of C919, her favorite flight is the Shanghai Hongqiao-Chengdu Tianfu flight. Chengdu and Chongqing are close to each other, and the large aircraft will pass through the border area of Chongqing. At this time, she glanced at the rolling ridges outside the porthole window, and she seemed to be able to smell the fragrant hot pot smell of the mountain city.
This Labor Day, Liu Haiqi has scheduled a flight, but still cannot return to her hometown. She was flying from Shanghai Hongqiao to Xi'an these days. At 5:40 in the morning, she packed up and walked out of the house, checked in at 6:35, and boarded the guests at 7:40. She wanted to use her best condition, warm smile and considerate service to greet everyone traveling during the holiday. passengers.
In eight years of work, Liu Haiqi has experienced transformation from a regular cabin crew member to a first-class cabin crew member and then to a C919 flight attendant. In her view, the role of the purser is more like a "glue". Not only must he pay attention to passenger occupancy, catering, luggage status, etc. before the flight, but he must also maintain close communication with the entire crew and monitor all aspects of the flight. Have sufficient control over everything.
The five C919s that have been delivered now perform approximately seven flights per day. She basically maintains a working frequency of flying C919 four days a week. In view of the characteristics of the three currently opened routes from Shanghai Hongqiao to Beijing Daxing, Chengdu Tianfu and Xi'an, Liu Haiqi summarized her own set of service focuses. For example, there are mostly children and elderly passengers on the Tianfu route. She will focus on family travelers with elderly and young children and take the initiative to provide them with help. Daxing routes generally have fewer tourist passengers, so she will think about how to better meet the travel needs of business travelers.
"On the C919's maiden commercial flight on May 28 last year, I was the one wearing the red uniform." "At this year's Singapore Air Show, we all called the C919 'Internet celebrity punch-in machine.'" Talking about the relationship with the C919 aircraft and Liu Haiqi was full of excitement and pride in the crew's shared memories. What makes her most proud is the sense of cohesion and belonging that C919 has given her and her team. For example, once flying to Chengdu, a passenger specially gave the crew a cute panda pen, which made her very touched and happy. For another example, she called her relationship with the C919 crew a "comradeship": "Now the team of C919 pilots and flight attendants is getting stronger and stronger. We already have 7 batches of nearly 200 C919 flight attendants. We have experienced so much together. This is a historic 'big event', and everyone has a very good relationship, just like comrades-in-arms."
"Working is the most glorious! Working with domestically produced large aircraft is even more glorious!" Liu Haiqi said with a smile: "I sincerely hope that next May Day, we will have more and more C919s flying more and more routes." She also has a wish that one day C919 can fly to Chongqing, so that she can often fly to and from her hometown with large domestic aircraft.
