Flight from Tianjin

(Part 3)

Top executives of Cebu Pacific Air, CEO Mike Szucs and chief strategy officer Alex Reyes, as the Gods of Mischief would have it, were literally being bombarded by lightning bolts to disrupt their flight to Beijing on that same fateful Tiananmen incident day. They were scheduled on the early morning flight to Hong Kong, where they would catch a connecting flight to Beijing and arrive in the evening to join us for our delicious Peking duck dinner.

But as I said, the mischievous Gods had started their merriment, and a red lightning alert that lasted for three hours delayed their morning flight to an afternoon flight that likewise pushed back their departure from Hong Kong to Beijing, resulting in a midnight arrival after what turned out to be a  hellish day as the red lightning alert cascaded into a series of flight delays, cancelled flights, and cascading flight disruptions that has aggravated Cebu Pacific’s  weeks of  hell  from public outrage and even a threat  of cancellation of its franchise.

The third day of the formal delivery ceremony was bright, sunny, and hot. It was actually a good day for Cebu Pacific as they celebrated the turnover of their eighth order from Airbus, on which they are betting will be the start of their capacity recovery. Press attendance from the local Chinese media was good, with the China Airbus Tianjin facility workers proudly joining in the plane turnover ceremony and posing numerous times with Airbus and Cebu Pacific officials, and even with Philippine Ambassador to China Jaime Flor Cruz.

The Philippine media team that was with me were Roderick dela Cruz, business editor of Manila Standard, Tyrone Piad, staff reporter of the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Rappler correspondent Lance Yu. We were able to talk to Ambassador Cruz about the Tiananmen incident and he assured us that the Beijing police were likely just protecting us and that the square is closed whenever there are visiting dignitaries.

Again, we left it at that and after the delivery ceremony went back to our hotel where a dinner banquet was being hosted by Airbus. After the dinner, we had the opportunity to see for ourselves another “flag” carrier in Tianjin – the SM Mall – which is the biggest in that city. It was nice to see a Filipino-owned mall in China, and with that visit we were eager to fly back to Manila onboard CebuPac’s brand new A320 Neo on the morrow.

Our last day in Tianjin was meant to be a leisurely one, wherein we could enjoy a long, last delicious breakfast buffet of noodles, dim sum, congee, and fresh hot soy milk. It was also a chance to buy last minute pasalubongs at a nearby store before packing and eating a quick lunch before departing to a private airport where we would takeoff.

Everything seemed perfectly timed and on track as we ordered our quick lunch plates and waited for our 1 p.m. pick-up for the airport. However, our CebuPac and Airbus minders were called to an emergency meeting and when they returned, the jig was up!

We were informed that (after months of planning and scheduling and getting the necessary permits, visas, arrangements, clearances, documentation and what have yous, Tianjin authorities had apparently decided not to allow us to depart with the ferry flight for which we had specifically been invited for!

It was then that we all sensed an uneasiness as to the sudden change in the ferry flight, although no one voiced out what was really going on, it was clear right then that there was an urgency to get us booked out on the earliest commercial flight back to Manila.

Upon checking, the flights out available from Tianjin would have to be on the next day, Mike and Alex’s decision was  to immediately get the media out that day and that we would head back to Beijing to get a flight out even through Hong Kong or Xiamen, and onto a connecting flight to Manila, even at the expense of leaving behind the CebuPac and Airbus executives who were supposed to be with us on the ferry flight.

I even overheard an exchange between an Airbus executive and Mike that if someone had to take responsiblity (for whatever, since as I said there was no explicit reason given for the change of plans) that they could give his name.

Scenes out of a movie

Arrangements were hastily made for a couple of mini buses to drive us back to Beijing (which would be a two- to three-hour drive) and we were quickly shepherded onboard. But as we departed the Tianjin pilot free trade zone, another call stopped us to say that the Airbus representatives would no longer accompany us and would have to stay behind in Tianjin. And then as we were on our way to the expressway to Beijing, we again got another urgent call that the Tianjin authorities had decided to change their mind and would let us join the ferry flight after all, but that we had to get to the VIP airport terminal before the scheduled 3 p.m departure time slotted for the ferry flight. It was 2:15 p.m.

We got to the VIP terminal at 2:30 p.m, where we were ushered into their “dignitary” reception lounge and asked to wait, which we tensely did. Again it was emphasized that the media delegation would be given priority to clear the immigration and security check just in case there was another change of mind by Tianjin authorities with regard to the allotted departure time.

It took another 10 to 15 minutes of waiting, during which time we were even able to post for a picture to bear witness to the extraordinary circumstances we were currently in. Finally we were asked to enter the pre-departure area one by one where immigration officials scrutinized our health declarations and passports.

The process continued with each member of the ferry flight having to go through final security clearance, again one by one, before being ushered into a mini bus, until all were screened and checked, and a security official accompanied us on the bus until we got onboard the plane.

Tianjin airport officials were so strict that our luggage was not even allowed to be loaded into the belly of the aircraft, and instead would be loaded inside the aircraft cabin. As we boarded, each of us had to identify and bring into the cabin our individual luggage.

We were more relaxed then, but a couple minutes more of suspense awaited as the Tianjin Tower would still not give us clearance to depart, as the slotted 3 p.m. departure time had already been missed, and the plane’s door had to remain open and the stairs still connected.

Mike, who was already seated, stood up once again and proceeded to the cockpit to confer with the pilots as to the continued delay, but soon enough the Tianjin control tower gave its final approval and the stewardess was finally able to close the door. We were finally going home.

Our captain, also eager to finally go home, lost no time in taxiing out to the runway and taking off quickly, and stepping on the gas to get us home. As soon as we reached our cruising speed and the fasten your seatbelts sign was off, I could not help but give into the “movie in my mind” and unbuckled my seatbelt, stood up, clapped, and  blurted  out a dramatic Thank You! to the Cebu Pacific executives and say, “I’m finally going home to Manila!”

However, only my media colleagues joined me in clapping, as the other people on plane, I’m sure, wondered what this crazy woman was so happy about, as the Cebu Pacific team were now adopting a blase attitude to what we had been through to get on this flight.

Of course, the airplane crew and other officials from CAAP had no inkling of our little Tiananmen “incident” and instead only knew that the Tianjin authorities had questioned the fact that other “business” visa holders would also be onboard the ferry flight, and thus were not agreeable to that arrangement.

That reasoning, to my mind, was so deceptive because I have joined previous Airbus turnover ferry flights in Toulouse where it has been the practice to invite an even larger group that was composed of various government officials with their wives, media representatives from lifestyle and business, and even foreign media and aviation writers and vloggers, and businessmen friends of the aircraft owners -- with all members of the contingent enjoying a couple of days of wining and dining, sightseeing, and enjoying a bit of shopping.

Airbus prides itself in making impeccable arrangements for its customers, especially since aircraft contracts are in the millions and even billions of dollars.

The Cebu Pacific contingent was a very lean one and the whole affair was for a short four days.  And, of course, coordination and permission was sought from Chinese authorities for all members of the contingent, especially since we all had to undergo a stringent visa approval process that now rivals those required by the US, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.

There was no other deviation to those plans, except for that fateful and unscheduled, but denied, Tiananmen visit, which we all just agreed to as the agency had planned.

(To be concluded)