Chapter 162: SkyTeam Alliance!
Small conference room of the flight department in the Blue Sky Aviation Base building in Jianchuan City.
Xu Cang was wearing a pilot's uniform, but he had a casual outfit on the outside. He tilted his head and was still dozing off.
Xu Cang got up early today and took a seven-hour car ride. When he arrived in Jianchuan, he headed straight to the Blue Sky Airlines base building. He made such a long journey, not for anything else, but to be promoted to the second-level co-pilot.
The promotion to the second-level co-pilot was the easiest among all levels. It only required an oral exam, and there was no requirement for any practical exam. There were four other people sitting next to Xu Cang who were also waiting for the oral exam.
Compared to Xu Cang's carefree appearance, the other four co-pilots in the lower seats sat upright, not daring to breathe. Xu Cang originally planned to take a short nap before the inspector came, but there was no noise in the surrounding environment, and he could hear his breathing if he breathed a little harder, which was really a bit outrageous.
Xu Cang lay on the table and gasped a few times. He then felt that the entire small conference room was filled with his own breathing. Finally, he could only sigh, straighten up, half-closed his eyes and rested.
The co-pilot next to him saw Xu Cang's lazy look, glanced at the closed door of the conference room, and asked Xu Cang in a low voice: "Brother, are you really so sure?"
At first, Xu Cang thought that no one was talking to him, and he was still immersed in the state of slacking off. But after waiting for two seconds, Xu Cang felt something was wrong. When he opened his eyes, he saw four pairs of eyes staring at him.
"Did you just tell me?"
"What else?" One of the co-pilots carefully identified Xu Cang's appearance and became more and more puzzled: "Brother, you are not in the same group as us?"
In the pilot community, the concept of batches is still quite clear. If you take theory classes together and fly the initial modification simulator at about the same time, you can be considered to be in the same batch. It's similar to asking which class you were in when you were a student.
Blue Sky Airlines doesn't recruit many students, so there won't be many students in the same batch, and most of them know each other. But it's rare that each of these four people knows Xu Cang.
Generally speaking, the rotation and ascent speeds of pilots in the same batch are basically the same, so there shouldn't be a situation where they are completely unfamiliar with each other.
"Uh..." Xu Cang scratched his head: "I should be a little earlier than you."
"The last batch, or the batch before that?" The co-pilot showed a hint of doubt: "There were very few people in the last batch, and I basically knew them all."
Xu Cang's face flashed with a hint of embarrassment. This was not a question of the last batch or the batch before that, but Xu Cang was almost three years ahead of them. Although Xu Cang was thick-skinned, he couldn't hold it back at this time, and coughed twice: "It should be a little earlier."
"It's still early." The co-pilot became curious: "Brother, have you stopped before?"
If a pilot's promotion progress falls far behind, in addition to the pilot's own lack of interest in the promotion, it may be due to the pilot being grounded.
"There was a suspension of flights, yes."
In fact, to be precise, it happened not once, but many times.
"Brother, shouldn't you be more careful?"
Xu Cang raised his eyebrows: "What should I be careful about?"
"Grounded." The co-pilot said excitedly, "I heard that today's inspector is very good. If we fail the oral test for transfer, we can just wait for a while and come back again. But today's inspector seems to be very strict. If we answer too badly, he might ground us on the spot."
Unlike proficiency checks, there is no penalty for failing the transfer check, so there is no suspension or additional training. The only problem is that you usually have to wait a month before the second check is scheduled, but everything else remains the same.
However, I heard from the co-pilot that today's inspector was very capable and seemed to have very high requirements. He even took the initiative to ground others during the transfer inspection.
"If I had known that he would be assigned to inspect, I would rather submit my promotion application later." The other co-pilot had a droopy face, with an expression of regret on his face.
The transfer inspection within the airline is not performed by a fixed inspector. Instead, after the pilot submits a transfer application, the flight inspector will randomly assign an inspector based on the company inspectors available at that time.
Of course, there is rarely anything completely random in this society. Some people with connections can influence the selection of their own inspectors through flying darts.
Xu Cang became interested: "Who is the inspector?"
He did receive an email regarding the transfer inspection, but he did not look closely at who the inspector was.
"Say it is..."
Before the co-pilot could say his name, the tightly closed door of the conference room was pushed open and Wang Xuan walked in slowly.
The four co-pilots were suddenly silent. Xu Cang looked towards the door and unexpectedly it was Wang Xuan who came in.
Wang Xuan probably didn't expect Xu Cang to be inside. He stood at the door in a daze for a moment, picked up the document in his hand and took a look at it, and his face looked uncomfortable as if he had eaten a fly.
Xu Cang obviously didn't expect the inspector to be Wang Xuan, so he could only say awkwardly, "Hello, Mr. Wang."
The four co-pilots stood up and shouted in unison, "Hello, Mr. Wang."
After the initial discomfort, Wang Xuan calmed down and sat in the upper seat. He said to the four co-pilots, "You guys go wait outside first."
The four co-pilots were naturally very obedient and immediately picked up their things and slipped out. Soon, Xu Cang and Wang Xuan were the only ones left in the small meeting room.
"I heard that Lu Jinghua is leaving. Is he going to Erhai Lake?" Wang Xuan did not mention the oral interview for transfer, but mentioned Lu Jinghua instead.
Xu Cang hummed: "Yes. But isn't this a good thing? Lu Jinghua has left, and it is very likely that you, the chief pilot, will take over as the general manager of the flight department."
"I used to think that Lu Jinghua was too lazy, but recently the company started to transfer his affairs to me, and then I realized that he is much more capable than I thought."
Since Blue Sky Airlines knew that Lu Jinghua wanted to leave, they would definitely gradually transfer his duties. During this period, Wang Xuan was asked to take over some of Lu Jinghua's work, which basically meant that Wang Xuan was going to take over the position of general manager of the flight department.
However, it is said that it is easy to look at, but it is not easy to do. When Wang Xuan really faced the various affairs of the flight department, he already felt that he was overwhelmed.
However, Lu Jinghua, whom he had looked down upon for a long time, was able to handle the situation in an orderly manner. This comparison showed the difference.
"You have some skills, just not too many." Xu Cang said with a smile.
That’s right, this is Xu Cang’s final evaluation of Wang Xuan: he has some talent but no great ambition.
Wang Xuan really didn't expect Xu Cang to be so straightforward. In the past, Wang Xuan might have been furious, but now Wang Xuan no longer had any psychological advantage in front of Xu Cang.
Not long ago, he heard that Xu Cang had completed another astonishing radius-less turn of a large passenger plane at Shandong Airlines. The sophistication of his operation was so great that he could hardly match it.
Moreover, Xu Cang is now developing in the Erhai Base. As a middle-level leader, Wang Xuan has vaguely heard that the Erhai Base will eventually become independent. In this way, Xu Cang will be free to do whatever he wants. Who can still restrict him?
Facing Xu Cang's evaluation, Wang Xuan was quite calm. He just glanced at the check list in front of Xu Cang and pointed at it: "Give me the list."
Xu Cang was a little surprised and pushed the checklist to Wang Xuan: "Don't you want to ask questions?"
"What are you asking?" Wang Xuan said with a wry smile. After that, Wang Xuan signed his name on it and returned the list to Xu Cang: "That should be enough. Do you want to stay here for a while, or go back to Erhai Lake right away?"
Xu Cang took the inspection form and checked it. After confirming that it was correct, he said helplessly, "If I had known it was so simple, I wouldn't have come here. Wouldn't it be better for you to go and stamp my form?"
Wang Xuan was startled: "This is not good, I still need to come over."
Wang Xuan looked at Xu Cang's bloodshot eyes and suggested, "It's still too far to reach Erhai Lake by land. Why don't you rest for a night before going?"
If he left immediately, Xu Cang would have to stay in the car for fifteen hours a day, and no one could stand that.
Xu Cang yawned, thinking whether he should rest in the attendance building for a night. Just as Xu Cang was hesitating, the door of the conference room was pushed open again, and Lu Jinghua's head popped out from the crack of the door.
Lu Jinghua looked inside for a moment, saw where Xu Cang was, and immediately waved: "Come here! Come over here."
Xu Cang put away the checklist and came out of the meeting room, where he found Lu Jinghua waiting outside with an anxious look on his face. Xu Cang glanced at the four co-pilots waiting outside the door and raised the list in his hand: "I'm ready, you guys go in."
"Ah? So fast?"
Xu Cang smiled and said, "It was very fast. The instructor inside was very easy to talk to."
The four co-pilots entered the small conference room doubtfully.
Xu Cang walked to Lu Jinghua and said with a smile, "What's wrong?"
"Xu Cang, I just got the news that the marketing department has decided to separate the Erhai base from the Blue Sky Airlines." Lu Jinghua said worriedly, "I think there will be a follow-up soon."
Xu Cang frowned. "So fast, I thought it would take some time. Don't they have to worry about their relationship with Chunxia Travel?"
To be honest, although Qin Xin has now separated from Chunxia Travel and started her own business, Chunxia Travel is still obviously good to Qin Xin, and all her connections can be used. If that's the case, how could the marketing department cut the Gordian knot so quickly and not worry about problems with the billion-dollar order from Chunxia Travel?
"Miss Qin is no longer a member of Chunxia Travel. Offending her does not mean offending Chunxia Travel, so the impact will definitely not be great." Lu Jinghua said worriedly: "Besides, some new things have happened recently."
"What do you mean?"
"Muhua Airlines plans to codeshare with us on certain routes and will soon have the Jianchuan base cooperate with us."
Xu Cang was really confused now: "You mean that some routes of Muhua Airlines Jianchuan Base share codes with you, did I hear you right?"
Even if it is just an aviation base of Muhua Airlines, the routes there are better than those of Blue Sky Airlines. This allows the two engines to share codes and operate jointly. When did Muhua Airlines do such a great good deed?
"You heard it right." Not only did Xu Cang not understand, even Lu Jinghua was confused: "Not only is it part of the code sharing, Muhua Airlines is also planning to let us operate an international route from Guangzhou to Los Angeles for a period of time."
"What did you say?" This made Xu Cang's jaw drop: "Are the senior executives of Muhua Airlines sick?"
Lu Jinghua was a little dizzy after being hit by such a big piece of pie in the sky: "I don't know what's going on. But I always feel that Muhua Airlines is up to something."
Xu Cang thought about it, but still couldn't figure out what Muhua Airlines was going to do, but he also had a question: "You guys are so hot with Muhua, what does that have to do with us?"
"Of course it is related." Lu Jinghua showed a strange expression: "It is said that the senior management of Muhua Airlines intends to bring us into the SkyTeam alliance in the future."
"SkyTeam?" Xu Cang was stunned. "You mean the airline alliance formed by Air France, Delta, Aeromexico and Korean Air? Was it formed this year?"
Xu Cang certainly knew about SkyTeam, and there was also a Star Alliance. If Xu Cang remembered correctly, Star Alliance was established a few years earlier than SkyTeam, but Xu Cang couldn't remember He was quite surprised to hear such a word come out of Lu Jinghua's mouth so hastily.
Lu Jinghua nodded: "Yes, it was established last month, and the four companies you mentioned are the original members. Xu Cang, you are quite concerned about the international civil aviation situation."
"What do you care about?" Xu Cang waved his hand: "Muhua himself didn't go in, so why should he bring you Lantian in?"
If Xu Cang remembered correctly, it would take a few more years for Muhua Airlines to join the SkyTeam alliance. He hadn't even started yet, but he was already throwing out promises?
The key is that Blue Sky Airlines seemed to believe it.
"We have already started discussing the entry of Muhua Airlines, and it is a done deal."
Xu Cang rolled his eyes: "How can you be sure that Muhua Airlines will join SkyTeam?"
"Among the three major domestic airlines, Guoda Airlines has already joined the Star Alliance. Tiandong Airlines has not made any statement, but its subsidiary Shanghai Airlines has joined the Star Alliance, which is at least a statement. Then the only one left among the three major airlines is Muhua Airlines, and it must strive to join the SkyTeam. Muhua Airlines and Guoda Airlines are located in the south and the north, and they have never gotten along. If they can join the Star Alliance together, won't Muhua Airlines have to join the SkyTeam in the end?"
After Lu Jinghua's analysis, things became much clearer. China is expected to grow into the world's third largest civil aviation market after Europe and the United States. Both Star Alliance and SkyTeam must strive to win a member, and the first choice is naturally the three major airlines with strong strength.
However, Guoda Airlines is already taken, Tiandong Airlines is inclined towards Star Alliance, and Muhua Airlines and Guoda Airlines are at loggerheads. Naturally, SkyTeam will do its best to win over Muhua Airlines, and Muhua Airlines has no other choice, so it is basically certain that Muhua Airlines will join SkyTeam.
Once Muhua Airlines joins SkyTeam, with the explosive growth of the domestic civil aviation market, its voice will surely increase, and it will not be impossible to bring Blue Sky Airlines in.
Xu Cang sneered: "So you think you should join SkyTeam because I, who sells cheap tickets, am becoming more and more annoying?"
Now that Blue Sky Airlines has hooked up with a wealthy man, it has begun to look down on its poor relatives.
"However, there is one thing I am concerned about. Even if Muhua Airlines gives you the Guangzhou-Los Angeles route, what aircraft will you use to fly it?" Xu Cang asked curiously, "Does Blue Sky Airlines have wide-body aircraft that can fly transoceanic routes?"
"So you have to buy it!" Lu Jinghua said.
"Buy? Buy what?"
Lu Jinghua said: "A380!"
"Oh my god, you want to buy the A380?" Xu Cang was really shocked by the management of Blue Sky Airlines: "If you buy the A380, you will bet your entire capital. Why not buy the 747?"
Lu Jinghua whispered, "It is said that Muhua Airlines also wants to buy A380s, tentatively four. Muhua Airlines hopes that we will buy one too. With a total of five, we can negotiate a lower price with Airbus. The Los Angeles route is for our future A380s, otherwise we would not have bought it."
In fact, there is also the concept of buying a plane in bulk. When the number reaches a certain limit, there is naturally room for negotiation. But why does Xu Cang always feel that Muhua Airlines will not give up a relatively high-quality international route for such a small price reduction?
However, it seems that Ma Cheng did not follow his advice and still wants to buy the A380.
"Then Mu Hua also placed an order?" Xu Cang asked casually.
Lu Jinghua shook his head: "Not yet. They said they need to study the specific configuration, which may take half a year. We don't have the money to buy a high-end one, so we can only buy the most basic model."
Due to the extremely exaggerated size of the Airbus 380, airlines can ask Airbus to modify the aircraft according to their own requirements. As far as Xu Cang knows, some airlines can even move an entire luxury guest room into the aircraft, the kind with a bathroom.
However, the reason given by Lu Jinghua was too far-fetched. It took half a year to discuss a configuration issue. Are there so many things to discuss?
Suddenly, a possibility flashed through Xu Cang's mind. Perhaps, Ma Cheng was not ignoring his words, but was taking insurance. That is, using Blue Sky Airlines as insurance.
The top management of Blue Sky Airlines is almost obsessed with high-end and international development. If they offer some related benefits, there is no doubt that Blue Sky Airlines will not take the bait.
Just now Lu Jinghua said that Muhua Airlines would place orders half a year later than Blue Sky Airlines, and this half-year time difference is the reason why Muhua Airlines paid the price.
Regardless of whether it was due to his instinctive trust in Xu Cang, Ma Cheng seemed to have really wavered in his belief in the future of the A380. However, the current very good preliminary market research did not allow Ma Cheng to give up the choice of the A380 so decisively, so he needed someone to help him test the waters, and his choice was Blue Sky Airlines.
If Blue Sky Airlines can achieve good results by operating the A380 on the Los Angeles route, it means that Xu Cang's idea is wrong, and they can purchase the A380 with confidence.
But if the performance is not good, Muhua Airlines can cancel the A380 it has ordered even if it has to pay liquidated damages. This is better than buying it and continuing to lose money.
Moreover, if the efficiency is not good, one A380 is enough to drag down Blue Sky Airlines. At this moment, deep cooperation with Blue Sky Airlines is tantamount to inviting a wolf into the house. When Blue Sky Airlines becomes weak, Muhua Airlines may take the opportunity to swallow up Blue Sky Airlines to make up for its losses from breach of contract.
It seems that no matter what the result is, Muhua Airlines will gain something, and all the risks will be borne by Blue Sky Airlines.
Xu Cang just felt a chill down his spine. Ma Cheng was really a cunning man. Even if all the people from Blue Sky Airlines were tied together, they couldn't compare to him.
"This A380 aircraft..." Xu Cang muttered to himself.
Lu Jinghua asked curiously: "What's wrong with the A380? Is there any problem?"
Xu Cang naturally knew the fate of the A380. So it seems that Muhua Airlines will not be dragged down, but Blue Sky Airlines will be dragged down first.
Thinking of this, Xu Cang laughed: "It's okay, this plane is very good, very good!"
