Aviation & TESOL in China

It hit the century mark several times this week in Beijing, and it continues to be hot hot hot. But this heat is nothing compared to that felt by scores of officials in Chinese aviation, as the government clamps down hard on corruption. We reported earlier the demise of several airport and aviation authority officials, and it appears that there is no letdown in the roundups. Among those recently held, charged, or being investigated are the director of the CAAC public security bureau, the deputy director of the CAAC airport administration, the head of CAAC Northern China branch, the former section chief for the Civil Aviation Office under the National Development and Reform Commission’s Transportation Department (in charge of overseeing things such as slot assignments), and several top officials from Beijing Airport.

This comes not long after American Airlines, formerly the world’s largest airline, was presented with an unattractive time slot for its proposed Chicago-Beijing flight. It seems that AA officials had thought everything had been signed, sealed, and to be delivered when the graveyard slot was presented to them. No doubt shocked and taken aback, AA canceled its inaugural flight and had to write off all the pre-flight publicity and festivities.

The Civil Aviation Management Institute of China in Beijing (Fight88 File Photo)

All of the above occurred while I was on yet another week-long PEPEC review meeting, held at Beijing’s CAMIC this time. I would say it was a fairly productive week, with a bunch of submissions from Air China, China Eastern, and the Civil Aviation University of China reviewed. I said fairly because in fact, many submissions were rejected. It never fails to surprise me how after all this time content providers continue to make the same mistakes, such as not following specifications!

As usual at these meetings we get a status report of the latest test trends and results. Since the exam re-start in June, the pass rate has jumped up remarkably. A few people asked me whether we had made the test easier. The short, simple answer is no. The long answer…well, I’ll save for another time.

From several sources, the Civil Aviation Management Institute of China was once a drab, dreary place to study. Now, CAMIC, with its on-campus Ziyingge Hotel, is a jumping place to be. It’s reaping in the riches from strings of meetings hosted there, along with multiple course offerings for outsiders, i.e. non-aviation people. This has no direct effect on me, of course, but it’s always nice to be in a place alive with activity. Not that I actually get to soak that in much, since our meetings run from early morning to well past 5pm.

Captain Chen (CAAC), Captain Pei (Shenzhen Airlines), and Jill (CAUC) at our PEPEC dinner.

Probably the best part of the week was the group dinner at a nearby restaurant featuring Xinjiang belly dancers. The food wasn’t bad either.

Continuing with further lighter notes…

Cupsets

How do you like the word I just made up? I’m talking about World Cup upsets, as in Brazil getting knocked out in the quarter-final and Germany in the semi (thanks to the oracle octopus). Of course, 2006’s finalists Italy and France have been long gone, with neither being able to advance to the knockout stage.  Holland vs. Spain…who are you rooting for? I like Holland’s team spirit, and their brilliant idea of putting their respective opponent’s flag on their jerseys (next to their own flag, of course) resonates class. However, I can’t get over how repulsed I am by Arjen Robben. He’s so full of talent, it’s a serious shame that he is also my pick for the World Cup Raspberry award, given to the player who exemplifies cowardliness, unsportsmanlike conduct, and plain bad acting. Granted, I don’t watch soccer that much, but every time I watch I see agonizing screams for nicks on the shin (actually on the shin guard!), bellowing cries for tiny taps on the back, and pleading yelps for phantom contact. And nobody does these better than one Arjen Robben.  (To be fair, Spain’s terrific striker David Villa was also caught with an unwarranted howl in the quarterfinal game.) I think this is one of the reasons many Americans don’t watch soccer. We’re a nation that embraces football, and to a lesser extent, hockey, sports where broken bones are par for the course. I’m not saying this is right; just that that’s what it is. But I digress. World Cup Final. I’m not rooting for either team, but I’ll watch and hope for a good match.

Back to the topic of upsets. How about some 300 ticketholders to the Germany-Spain match not being able to make it because the airport wasn’t accepting landings? Now that’s upsetting! Durban King Shaka International airport was reportedly unable to handle all the scheduled incoming flights due to several charter flights being given preference, then congesting the airport. Several planes were turned back to their origin airports in Johannesburg and Cape Town, while others were diverted elsewhere. Imagine spending thousands of dollars and going through all that planning to witness your team in a dream match, and the destination airport tells you, “Sorry, Mick’s plane is still on the runway.” Shame on you, Durban! Good example of how NOT to exercise flow control!

NB There’s no such thing as the World Cup Raspberry; I made it up…but you knew that, right? Maybe there should be…

NB Those charter flights reportedly carried, among others, Charlize Theron and Shakira, coincidentally two of my favorite celebs. Folks, don’t bash them, the airport should have planned better.

(Sources: Caixin, Yahoo, AP)