Pilot suspended over plea for protests
Print Edition
AN airline said yesterday it had suspended one of its pilots after online footage showed him telling passengers to leave the aircraft and protest about a flight delay.
The flight, operated by Lucky Air, was due to leave the tourist destination of Xishuangbanna for the southern city of Kunming at midnight on Monday.
However, 30 minutes after the scheduled departure time, the captain told passengers that a plane operated by a larger carrier had jumped the queue, according to a passenger who posted a video online.
According to the passenger, the captain had said: “I am very angry. Please get off the plane. We won’t depart for now. Let’s put some pressure on the airport, go and vent for me.”
Passengers then left the aircraft and, on the tarmac, several started shouting out in protest at the delay.
Some time later the pilot asked his passengers to return. He told them: “Thank you very much. I am so sorry for holding you up until this late.” The plane finally left around 3am.
Lucky Air said in a statement that the pilot had been suspended, and that the delay had been caused by a “misunderstanding during communication between the crew and the airport.”
“The captain’s misconduct wrongfully led some of the passengers onto the tarmac and caused the delay of the flight,” the statement said.
China leads the world in flight delays, with the average flight delayed 21 minutes last year, according to the Civil Aviation Administration.
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