"Lawless, absolutely lawless!" In Luo Yong's office, the marketing manager pointed at Lu Jinghua's nose and cursed: "You were the one who asked him to recruit him in the first place, but he ended up recruiting such an ungrateful bastard. What kind of face did he have just now? How dare a little thing like him, who hasn't even grown all his hair, threaten me?"
In the office, Luo Yong simply stuffed two pieces of paper in his ears. Although it had no effect, it undoubtedly showed his attitude. Anyway, he was not going to care about this matter anymore.
The marketing department is not under Luo Yong's jurisdiction at all. Luo Yong's rank is indeed higher than that of the marketing manager, but Luo Yong's words are completely useless to the marketing manager.
Moreover, the marketing department has always felt that they are the ones who give favors to the flight department. The routes are all negotiated by our marketing department, otherwise how can the flight department have routes to fly?
As a result, the marketing department, a non-front-line department, always looks up when walking around in the company and never looks people in the eye.
"Why are you bringing up those old stories? What's the point?" Lu Jinghua hated the arrogant marketing department, especially their leader. Now this person dared to get angry at him, Lu Jinghua did not give in at all: "You've scolded enough, that's enough, go back, we have something else to discuss."
"We have something to discuss. What is it? What can you, a semi-unemployed employee who is about to leave the company, discuss?" The marketing manager shouted at Luo Yong, "Since he doesn't want to fly in our company anymore, then apply for a permanent suspension of his flying and report it to the General Administration now."
Luo Yong was so confused: "You said Xu Cang had conflicts with the people of Muhua Airlines. After all, he is still a member of our company. It's fine if you don't help him, but why do you help outsiders to blame him? Do you really think Xu Cang is just an ordinary pilot?"
"If he is not a pilot, then what is he? What a mess!" Perhaps because he saw other pilots in the company usually bowing and nodding to him, the marketing manager has always regarded pilots as more useful senior employees.
Therefore, he never made any other judgment on Xu Cang. At most, Xu Cang was a pilot with better skills, but so what?
To be honest, this marketing manager had the same idea as Ma Cheng before. No matter how glamorous the pilots were, they were just a tool to make money. Is there any need to respect a tool?
Luo Yong rubbed his temples. He was so absolute before, even after the 747S2 switch incident. But recently he heard that the title of Wang Baotian, a meritorious pilot of Rongcheng Airlines, was revoked. And this Wang Baotian was the one who took the lead in making an enemy of Xu Cang. This was meaningful. The timing was too coincidental.
Luo Yong is an internal staff of the airline. An airline would be crazy to ask the authorities to revoke the title of its meritorious pilot, but Chengdu Airlines did just that.
He absolutely did not believe that those people from Rongcheng Airlines were such selfless and ruthless people who would sacrifice their own relatives for the sake of justice. The greater possibility was that they were coerced by external forces, and it was not impossible that Xu Cang was the direct party in the conflict.
If the marketing manager was not in the same system as himself and Luo Yong had no management ability, he would have pointed at his nose and scolded him.
"You can ignore him, but don't irritate him," Luo Yong suggested seriously.
"I heard that your flight department was very ruthless in dealing with your own pilots. How come they are so cowardly now?" The marketing manager sneered, "Don't tell me nonsense. First, suspend his flight qualification within the company, and then report to the authority that he is not mentally fit for flying."
As long as there are people, there will be factions, and it is normal for factions to unite and suppress dissidents. Even in a small Blue Sky Airlines flight department, there are factions everywhere.
They are divided by batch, aircraft type, age, technical position, and even by the aviation school they graduated from. Anyway, everyone forms groups based on various standards and then constantly criticizes other groups.
Therefore, many pilots are demoted or grounded for some inexplicable reasons or because of a fuss over trivial matters. This is being bullied. The trend of bullying among pilots is so serious that other parts of the company regard it as a joke.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that there haven’t been cases of bullying in other departments, but the scale is definitely not as large as that of pilots, and the methods are definitely not as cruel.
Luo Yong certainly knew the social atmosphere in his department, and he had even punished many people himself, but that didn't mean he was willing to be exposed to some not-so-nice things in person.
"This is our flight department's business, why are you still making irresponsible remarks here?" Luo Yong said coldly: "Also, if we request to ground a pilot due to mental condition, we need a certificate from a professional organization. Without the certificate, how can we submit the application?"
"Really?" The marketing manager seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world: "A few years ago, an old instructor here was a bit too straightforward and offended all of you flight department leaders. In the end, you instructed the flight doctor to forge a mental evaluation certificate, which eventually grounded him until now? Who hasn't bullied people based on personal preferences after reaching our position? Don't pretend to be law-abiding. You can even bully a Class C instructor, but you can't bully a low-level co-pilot. You are kidding me."
Luo Yong's face turned pale because he was also involved in the incident that happened to the old teacher a few years ago.
Lu Jinghua felt really sick when he saw the marketing manager breaking the rules and not feeling ashamed but proud of it. These people never became leaders for the benefit of everyone, but simply to gain their own interests and have the power to dominate others. It was common for them to bully others when they disagreed with something or were in a bad mood, which was really disgusting.
Lu Jinghua suppressed his disgust for the marketing manager and said, "If you continue like this, you'll bring disaster upon yourself."
"Big disaster? Hahaha! You're not talking about that guy Xu Cang. Some time ago, a large group of meritorious pilots wanted to go to Hanjing to file a complaint against him, and the civil aviation official newspaper almost mentioned his name. He himself is a clay Buddha crossing the river, so why should I be afraid of him?"
"So now the title of the leading meritorious pilot has been revoked." Luo Yong said coldly.
The marketing manager was stunned: "What did you say?"
…
In the Blue Sky Airlines staff cafeteria, Xu Cang and Si Weimin were sitting at the same table. There were some light vegetarian dishes on the table, and the two of them were eating quietly.
Si Weimin is old and can't chew many things, while Xu Cang doesn't like the taste of the meat dishes in the cafeteria, so he just orders vegetarian dishes.
After eating for a while, Si Weimin put down his chopsticks, looked at Xu Cang who was still eating in silence, and said with a smile: "It's rare for young people to be vegetarians."
Xu Cang pointed his chopsticks at the food window and said, "It's not that I don't eat meat, it's just that the meat here tastes terrible, even worse than what I cook myself."
"Do you still like to cook for yourself?" Si Weimin suddenly became interested: "Besides cooking, do you also do housework at home?"
Xu Cang didn't think much about it and just hummed while eating.
Si Weimin seemed to open up now: "What kind of jobs do your parents have now? Where is their ancestral home?"
"My mother is sick and has no work. My father is an individual farmer. As for my ancestral home, I'm from Weiyang..." Xu Cang didn't have many ideas at first, but as Si Weimin asked more and more questions, Xu Cang put down his bowl and chopsticks and exclaimed, why do these questions sound like a household registration check?
He looked at Si Weimin's expression very carefully and found that Si Weimin had a smile on his face and did not seem to have any bad intentions. However, this expression reminded him of the old nanny in his hometown who was always matchmaking.
"Hey, old man, what do you mean by asking me these questions?" Xu Cang had no restraint towards the helmsman of Muhua Airlines, just like a young man chatting with his elders: "Why do I feel that you have bad intentions?"
Si Weimin laughed: "I'm already old, how could I have any bad intentions?"
"But I've heard an old saying, 'Old people don't..."
Si Weimin's face darkened: "You are such a mouthful boy, you say everything out loud? I asked you a question, can't you show some concern for the younger generation?"
"But it's not like checking your household registration?" Xu Cang finished his meal, put down his chopsticks, and patted his stomach contentedly. Don't mention it, occasionally eating only vegetarian food, light and refreshing, is quite comfortable.
Si Weimin saw Xu Cang patting his stomach after dinner and didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "How can a young man in his twenties behave like a middle-aged man in his forties? Pay more attention to your image."
"Ah?" After Si Weimin's reminder, Xu Cang shyly let go of his hand from his belly. This was not a habit he developed after his rebirth. He was originally like this when he was in his twenties, behaving old-fashioned and not paying attention to his image at all.
If it weren't for Qin Xin in the future who was diligent and cleaned up Xu Cang to make him look decent, Xu Cang would have become a sloppy old man.
Xu Cang coughed twice and said, "The old man is quite concerned about other people's manners."
"I don't have the habit of observing other people's every move all day long. I just told you." Si Weimin smiled and said, "Are you married now?"
Xu Cang wiped his mouth and said casually: "How can I start a family if I don't even have a girlfriend?"
"You don't even have a girlfriend! Tsk tsk, you're not a child anymore, aren't your parents anxious?" Si Weimin sighed with regret on his face: "I see you're so pitiful, why don't I introduce you to a girl, I guarantee you'll be satisfied..."
“Yes, yes, yes!” Xu Cang finally understood. Si Weimin’s expression just now did not look like a matchmaker, but he was indeed a matchmaker. After going around in circles before, his true intention was finally revealed: “Old man, it turns out that you are a matchmaker and your business scope is very wide.”
Si Weimin held up a finger and said solemnly, "You have to understand one thing. I am not here for any serious business today."
"Aren't you here to do business?" Xu Cang was stunned. "Aren't you here to discuss code sharing with us?"
Si Weimin snorted, "Who the hell is Blue Sky Airlines? They want me to come over to discuss something. I came here just to see what you look like."
Xu Cang touched his chin, completely confused. He really couldn't understand Si Weimin's thoughts. He was also quite old, and it was ridiculous for him to come all the way from Yangcheng to Jianchuan just to see what he looked like.
"Old man, why are you looking at me? I only have two eyes, a nose, and a mouth. How can I be a superhuman?" Xu Cang thought for a moment. Could it be because he had handled several special cases in the civil aviation industry recently and became famous? So much so that the chairman of Muhua Airlines had to make a special trip.
When Xu Cang thought of this possibility, he couldn't help but feel elated.
Si Weimin smiled and said, "Little kid, I really came here just to see what your eyebrows, eyes, nose, and mouth look like. Everyone has these five features, but when they are put together, they look different. However, you look pretty good, just a little bit feminine, but I am still very satisfied."
Veins popped up on Xu Cang's forehead. He wanted to say, "How can you, a man in his seventies or eighties, be satisfied with my appearance?" However, when he thought of Si Weimin's behavior just now, which was like checking the household registration, Xu Cang suddenly had a bad premonition.
"Grandpa is joking." Xu Cang quickly put his bowl and chopsticks into the plate, picked up the plate and wanted to run out.
Seeing Xu Cang running for his life, Si Weimin was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted and pulled Xu Cang back, not knowing whether to laugh or cry: "Why are you running?"
"The chairman of Muhua Airlines came all the way here to propose marriage. Are you guys at Muhua really that idle?" Xu Cang added, "That's terrible."
Si Weimin knocked on the table and said, "I usually don't take care of things, so I'm really free. Xu Cang, how about I introduce a girl to you?"
"No!" Xu Cang refused without even thinking.
Si Weimin was caught off guard: "So straightforward, the one I introduced must be excellent..."
"Oh, old man, what era is this? Free love, free love." Xu Cang emphasized twice in succession: "But it's really rare for you to make a special trip."
Si Weimin slowly stood up with the help of a cane: "My own granddaughter is definitely different. I still have to check her out."
Xu Cang's hair stood up all over his body. Wow, this guy is looking for his grandson-in-law. However, Xu Cang thought about it and felt that he did not provoke Si Weimin's granddaughter. He didn't even know who this granddaughter of Si Weimin was.
Si Weimin placed his bowl and chopsticks into the plate held by Xu Cang and pointed to the door: "Let's go, we can talk while walking. It's a good time to take a stroll and help digest the food."
Xu Cang hurriedly put the plate in the designated place, then quickly followed and asked from behind: "Grandpa, who is your granddaughter? Why do I feel like I have never seen her before?"
Si Weimin didn't even turn his head, but looked straight ahead and said casually, "Si Linglong!"
"Si Linglong?" Xu Cang racked his brains but couldn't think of a girl with this name before. To be honest, Si is a very rare surname, and if he had known it, he shouldn't have forgotten it so easily.
The two walked outside the cafeteria, Si Weimin was walking slowly in front, and Xu Cang was still wondering who Si Linglong was. However, after thinking for a long time, he still got nothing, and finally had to give up helplessly.
Forget it, it has nothing to do with me anyway, so I don’t want to think about it anymore!
"Can't remember?" Si Weimin glanced back at Xu Cang and sighed, "It turns out that my girl is in unrequited love."
Xu Cang scratched his head in embarrassment. He was not the kind of person who flirted with everyone. How could he accidentally offend Si Weimin's granddaughter? Seeing Si Weimin's age, he came to Xu Cang just to check on his granddaughter. It was obvious that Si Weimin regarded this granddaughter as very important.
Now, Xu Cang began to have a headache. If Si Weimin held a grudge against him because of this, it would be an unexpected disaster.
Xu Cang coughed twice to ease the embarrassment. He didn't want to continue this topic, it was too dangerous. However, he couldn't think of how to change the topic for a while, and for a while, the two fell into a strange silence.
However, it was Si Weimin who finally broke the tense atmosphere. He did not talk about his granddaughter anymore, but mentioned another thing: "Xu Cang, why do you think the market prospects of the A380 are not good?"
Xu Cang didn't expect Si Weimin to ask this question so directly. After all, Xu Cang was not a member of Muhua Airlines, and this was a personal secret. It was a bit abrupt for Si Weimin to ask this.
However, Xu Cang did not hide anything, but answered truthfully: "I can't say for sure, I just think that the future trend of international routes will be dominated by twin-engine wide-body aircraft, and giant aircraft have reached the end of the 747."
"Twin-engine wide-body aircraft, you mean the 777 and 330?" Si Weimin: "But the 777 seems to be difficult to produce."
When talking about 777, Si Weimin's eyes were obviously different when he was talking about Xu Cang, and the meaning was self-evident.
"That's Boeing's own problem and has nothing to do with future market trends."
"But the international route market has already reached its ceiling. If we want to make further breakthroughs, we must increase the upper limit of capacity," Si Weimin said. "And the A380 has been proven to be economically viable."
This reason was also the most important reason for convincing Si Weimin. There are only a few aviation hubs in the world, and the pattern has been almost fixed. And now the world's hubs are at worst dual-runway, and at most even four-runway.
However, increasing the number of runways to improve the airport's ability to release and receive aircraft has a marginal effect. For example, if a second runway is built when the airport is operating with a single runway, the capacity can be increased by 50%, but if another runway is built, it is estimated that the capacity can only be increased by 30%. As a result, when the airport is operating with four runways, even if another runway is built, the subsequent effect will not be obvious.
Because the runway is only one of the factors affecting civil aviation transport capacity. The number of routes, airspace utilization and openness, and even the aircraft model can determine the peak of maximum transport capacity.
However, from the current perspective, increasing the maximum passenger capacity of a single flight is indeed a fairly easy to understand and effective method.
"But Muhua can't go to Hanjing, and you probably don't know whether Yangcheng Airport's international routes can afford the A380. After all, the economic efficiency of the A380 is based on a high occupancy rate. Even the smallest model can have 800 seats. However, with Muhua's quality, it will at least have a two-level layout. The A380's all-economy class layout doesn't quite match the aircraft model or the style of your airline."
The so-called first-class cabin layout means that all space is filled with economy class, there is no business class, let alone first class. However, given the character of Muhua Airlines, it will definitely not be all economy class. If we judge by the popular layout of wide-body aircraft now, if the space quota of first class , the maximum number of seats is about 500.
However, even 500 seats are difficult to arrange. After all, first-class and business-class seats on long-haul international flights are only available to a very small number of people, and the occupancy rate will not be very good.
After Xu Cang said this, Si Weimin showed a trace of sadness on his face: "Among the three major hubs in China, Hanjing, Shanghai and Yangcheng, Hanjing has the highest quality and the largest number of international routes. But this is a policy regulation. If we want to depart from Hanjing, we must seek joint operation with Guoda Airlines. But the relationship between our two companies does not seem to be harmonious enough to be able to operate jointly! Operating international routes in Yangcheng is the only thing I am worried about the A380."
Si Weimin mentioned that Mu Hua must obtain the consent of China Airlines if he wants to take an international route from Hanjing. This is a complete regulation of the Civil Aviation Administration.
Many years ago, international flights were not profitable, and sometimes even lost money. But such flights could not be stopped, especially those to major foreign cities. If they were stopped, it would be detrimental to domestic and international exchanges.
However, if the flights are not profitable, isn't that bleeding the airlines? Therefore, in order to allow the airlines to continue to operate international routes, the Civil Aviation Administration has allocated the international route rights of the three major domestic aviation hubs , namely, Hanjing Airport belongs to Guoda Airlines, Shanghai Airport belongs to Tiandong Airlines, and Yangcheng Airport belongs to Muhua Airlines. At the same time, financial subsidies are provided to flights that lose money operating international routes at these airports.
The reason for this is that the subsidies for each airport come from the local government. For example, the headquarters of Guoda Airlines is in Hanjing, which not only brings a large number of jobs to Hanjing, but also creates huge tax revenue. It is reasonable for the local government to subsidize local enterprises.
But if Muhua Airlines is allowed to enter Hanjing without restrictions, then Hanjing government's money will be used to subsidize Muhua Airlines in Yangcheng, which does not sound appropriate.
Therefore, the authorities have many restrictions on the three major airlines opening international routes at non-base airports. If they do not want the authorities to intervene, they must find local airlines to jointly operate, just like what Si Weimin said just now, Muhua Airlines wants to operate international routes starting from Hanjing, so it must jointly operate with Guoda Airlines.
However, as everyone knows, Guoda Airlines and Muhua Airlines are located in the north and south respectively, and they dislike each other. It is a rare opportunity for Guoda Airlines to jointly operate with Muhua Airlines.
Although Hanjing, Shanghai and Yangcheng are all domestic aviation hubs, their values ​​are not equal on international routes, with Hanjing Airport having the highest value, Shanghai second and Yangcheng Airport the lowest.
Moreover, Si Weimin learned that given the huge inertia of the policy, this territorialization-like regulation will not undergo any major changes for a long time in the future.
"The only thing I'm worried about is the departure station. The maximum number of seats of 500 doesn't put much pressure on me if I can depart from Hanjing. It's a pity that I'm stuck with Guoda Airlines."
Xu Cang found it incredible: "If we depart from Hanjing, we can guarantee the occupancy rate of an aircraft of the size of the A380. How can international routes be so profitable?"
In his previous life, Xu Cang worked in the technical field, so he was not sensitive enough to the market. The main reason why he thought that the A380's occupancy rate was worrying was that he deduced it from the A380's commercial failure, and in his later life, he was indeed complained by Muhua Airlines' executives about the A380's poor occupancy rate.
Therefore, Xu Cang simply believed that the A380 would not have a good occupancy rate in the whole country, which is actually a one-sided and arbitrary view. Due to the professional limitations of Xu Cang in later generations, it is inevitable to ignore the influence of the departure station.
Xu Cang thought for a moment, if the A380 can be fully occupied starting from Hanjing, then it would be a good deal. After all, as long as the occupancy rate is sufficient, the A380 is quite economical.
"It seems that you don't know everything." Si Weimin told Xu Cang almost everything he knew: "The domestic economy is booming, driving consumption upgrades, and the market will be even bigger in the future. Xu Cang, there are... a lot of rich people."
Xu Cang instinctively asked, "Why didn't Guoda Airlines agree to a joint venture? Just to save face? That's not necessary."
"As for the distribution of profits, they are not satisfied with the share ratio." Si Weimin explained: "We calculated that even if we can maintain a good attendance rate for a long time, we will basically have no profit."
"How can we not agree to this?" It's called a joint venture, but in the end, Muhua Airlines provided all the planes and related personnel, and Guoda Airlines at most vacated space, with basically no expenses. Even in this case, they can still collect money for free, so why can they refuse the joint venture?
Si Weimin smiled and said, "Xu Cang, have you ever heard a saying? It is more painful to see your peers making money than to lose money yourself. I guess that's the mentality of Guoda Airlines."
Xu Cang said, "No, there is one thing I don't quite understand. Since Guoda Airlines is guarding such a Feng Shui treasure land as Hanjing, why doesn't it introduce the A380 itself?"
"Because the A380 orders are very popular right now, and Airbus does not have a close relationship with A-Trade, they cannot buy it for the time being."
Xu Cang reacted and soon figured it out. Previously, in the allocation of Boeing's production capacity, Guoda Airlines had obtained more allocations because of its better relationship with Boeing, but it was later reversed by Xu Cang.
In recent years, Muhua Airlines has continuously increased the number of its Airbus fleet and naturally developed its relationship with Airbus. It is reasonable for it to be the first to get the A380.
My goodness, those who can buy the A380 cannot fly good routes. Those who can fly good routes cannot buy the A380. In the end, these two companies are still mortal enemies. How can the world be so strange?
"No matter how much benefit the Airbus 380 brings, at least so far, the huge attention it has brought is quite amazing. After all, it has surpassed the Boeing 747. If we can become the first domestic airline to operate the A380, we will definitely get a lot of exposure. If we encounter the Universiade and the Olympic Games, the overall brand effect of Muhua Airlines will be unprecedented." Si Weimin said dimly: "But you are right, we seem to be blinded by the name of the A380, thinking that this will definitely be a successful model. But if this aircraft does not reach the expected height, even for us, Muhua, it will cause a huge economic burden..."
Xu Cang narrowed his eyes and said, "So, you want Blue Sky Airlines to be the first to try this?"
"The peak of the A380 in China should be during the Universiade and the Olympic Games. By then, the results of BlueSky Airlines' operation of the A380 will be clear. So, to be on the safe side, it doesn't matter if BlueSky Airlines takes a small lead." Si Weimin smiled and said, "Why, you are not unhappy about using BlueSky Airlines as cannon fodder? They seem to be happy with it."
Xu Cang raised his head and looked at the Blue Sky Aviation Base building bathed in the sun: "I feel that not all the people in Blue Sky Aviation are idiots. There must be someone who can see things clearly."
"I also think that some of them understand our thinking and calculations, but, so what? If the A380 operation results are good, they can get a Los Angeles route for free."
Xu Cang's eyes sparkled: "What if we lose the bet? A hole in an A380 will bring down the entire Blue Sky Airlines."
Si Weimin laughed disdainfully and said, "So, this is what gamblers are like. They only want to see the results of winning and selectively ignore the existence of risks."
"Xu Cang, I heard that you set up an aviation base in Erhai Lake, and you leased the planes from Blue Sky Airlines?" Si Weimin said, "You just had a falling out with Blue Sky Airlines. Aren't you afraid that they will take the planes back?"
Xu Cang laughed and said, "We have an agreement. If Blue Sky Airlines wants to take back the aircraft and crew in advance, they will have to pay liquidated damages."
"But it seems to me that they want to bear the penalty for breach of contract."
"That penalty is not a small amount. It doesn't matter if they are really in a hurry to give me the money. That's good." Xu Cang said with a smile.
Si Weimin looked at Xu Cang who was neither anxious nor impatient, and became interested: "But if they take back the plane, how will you fly the flight?"
Xu Cang spread his hands and pretended to be innocent: "Old man, I have reminded you about the A380 incident, so it should be natural for you to save me, right?"
Si Weimin really didn't expect Xu Cang to be so shameless. He started to make demands the first time they met: "Xu Cang, even if I told you that our little girl is interested in you, you can't let me fly a plane for you, right?"
As he spoke, Si Weimin revealed a sly look: "However, if you agree to be my grandson-in-law, I can consider it."
At this point, Xu Cangtou shook his head like a rattle: "No, no, no, old man, I'm not that kind of person. I mean, I can rent it out for a short period of time at a price 20% higher than the market price. I hope you can agree to it."
In fact, as long as you have money, you can definitely get an airplane. But if Blue Sky Airlines recovers the airplane too quickly, it will be too late to find an overseas airplane leasing company, and the formalities alone will take a long time.
However, it is still possible to borrow an airplane from Muhua Airlines for emergency use, even if it costs more money. Blue Sky Airlines has already paid a lot of penalty for breach of contract anyway.
"But, I think what Blue Sky Airlines did was right. You are selling low-priced tickets, which will also affect our Muhua brand. Although I don't like Blue Sky Airlines very much, I think it is right for them to cut ties with you in a timely manner. Once the brand goes down, the loss will be greater." Si Weimin said seriously: "Muhua is not a private company. Although I am the chairman, I can't do whatever I want. Even if the standard is higher than the market price, I still feel it is not feasible."
Xu Cang hurriedly said, "It's okay, it's okay. We can simply repaint the plane, and there will definitely be no Muhua Airlines logo on the outside, so it won't affect your brand reputation."
"What about the cost of spray painting?"
Xu Cang's face darkened: "It's just a spray paint, old man, you want to argue with me?"
"It's just a spray paint?" Si Weimin sneered, "Do you really think you don't understand? Spraying a 737 paint job costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, and you think I'm fussy?"
"No, no, it's only about 200,000 or 300,000. We will choose the simplest pattern, which is estimated to be just over 200,000."
The cost of painting an aircraft varies greatly and is closely related to the size of the aircraft, the complexity of the pattern, and the degree of structural damage to the surface of the fuselage.
For an aircraft of the size of a 747, a slightly better fuselage paint job would cost millions. A 737 costing more than 200,000 is already relatively cheap.
"Just over 200,000? I was born into a poor family, so I can't afford to waste. You're not my grandson-in-law. No, even if you are my grandson-in-law, you still have to settle the bill."
Xu Cang was speechless: "Okay, okay, we'll pay for the painting, okay, old man?"
Si Weimin laughed now: "Why not? It's a waste if you don't make money!"
…
In Luo Yong's office, the marketing manager sat on the sofa with a grim expression and said nothing. Just now, Lu Jinghua told him the specific details of Wang Baotian's revocation of the title of meritorious pilot. Many signs showed that there were external forces pushing this matter, otherwise Rongcheng Airlines would not have gone crazy and applied to revoke the title of meritorious pilot from their side.
"Can a co-pilot influence the decision of an airline?" The marketing manager kept blinking his eyes at an unusually fast frequency, which was obviously abnormal, and it showed how upset he was inside.
Even though it came from Lu Jinghua's mouth, he still didn't quite believe it. Xu Cang looked like a young man in his twenties. Such a person had the power to influence the decision of an airline company. Moreover, according to his understanding, Xu Cang's family was also very ordinary, and there shouldn't be any special relationship.
Just because he handled a few special cases? The marketing manager felt that this logic did not hold water!
"No!" Lu Jinghua shook his head.
The marketing manager finally breathed a sigh of relief: "I told you, this is simply impossible."
Lu Jinghua said solemnly, "What I said is not right. It's not what you understand. It's that Xu Cang not only influenced the decision-making of Rongcheng Airlines, but also the speed at which the bureau reviewed this application was beyond common sense."
Normally, the bureau takes about a week to process such an application, and sometimes even ten days. But this time, after Chengdu Airlines submitted an application to the bureau to revoke Wang Baotian's title of meritorious pilot, it received a reply of approval on the third day. This speed is simply a record.
Lu Jinghua never had any illusions about the bureau's work efficiency under normal circumstances. The reason why the bureau reacted so quickly was that the bureau also attached great importance to this matter and dealt with it quickly.
As for why he values ​​him, it is definitely not because of Wang Baotian. The only explanation is that he values ​​Xu Cang!
"Damn it!" The marketing manager was no fool and quickly thought of this, but it made him very annoyed.
“So, don’t have any personal emotional behavior towards Xu Cang, at least not towards him personally. This will cause losses to the company,” Luo Yong explained.
The marketing manager spat in an indecent manner: "Then let's not worry about the suspension of flights. I will take back the wet-leased aircraft. They only have one aircraft. When we take it back, what will they use to fly?"
"What about the penalty? They originally agreed to a three-year wet lease. The sooner you breach the contract, the more money you have to pay. It's only been a short time now. If we take it back immediately, we will not only have to return all the rent, but also pay a huge amount of penalty."
"We have passed a resolution and are willing to pay the penalty. This is also a protection for our company's brand. Letting them use our company's aircraft to sell those low-priced tickets is simply ruining our company's brand!" the marketing department said firmly.
At this time, Lu Jinghua continued: "Then let's wait for another quarter. The amount of liquidated damages decreases every quarter. After another quarter, the liquidated damages will be much less."
"A quarter? Are you kidding me? I can't wait even a day." The marketing manager stood up and said, "According to the wet lease agreement, if we want to take back the aircraft in advance, we must keep a buffer period of at least half a month. So we will take back the aircraft in half a month."
Lu Jinghua was stunned: "Half...half a month? So fast!"
He really didn't expect the marketing manager to be so angry that he wanted to take back the plane even though he had to pay such a huge penalty. He originally thought that even if it was fast, it would take at least a month or two.
However, he heard not long ago that Xu Cang might introduce a new aircraft in three months, so he just pretended to reduce the penalty and moved the time to take back the aircraft to three months. However, the marketing manager not only didn't care, but directly shortened the time to half a month.
Where would Xu Cang find a replacement plane in half a month?
Not only that, the marketing manager also looked at Luo Yong and Lu Jinghua: "In addition to the planes, all the personnel belonging to Blue Sky Airlines must return. I want to see what kind of waves Xu Cang can make without us."
Luo Yong's mouth twitched: "You are offending Xu Cang to death."
"I am following the rules. I will not give him a penny less of the compensation he deserves." The marketing manager said and walked out, leaving behind Luo Yong and Lu Jinghua who were confused.
After waiting for a long time, Luo Yong cursed fiercely: "What a fool who doesn't know his place."
"What should we do?" Lu Jinghua asked.
"What can we do?" Luo Yong lay down on the chair: "The marketing department has already decided to bear the penalty, what else can we say? Let's explain it clearly to Xu Cang."
"But this time we not only want to recover the plane, but also the personnel. Can this be made clear?" Lu Jinghua was really speechless.
Not long ago, Muhua Airlines was willing to cooperate with Blue Sky Airlines, which caused some company leaders to become extremely inflated and optimistic, to the point that they began to look down on everything.
Just when Lu Jinghua was feeling annoyed, his cell phone rang. He took it out and saw that it was the dispatch number. After thinking for a moment, he answered the call.
"What's up?"
"Mr. Lu, we just received a call from the Muhua Airlines dispatch room, asking us to help add one person to the crew of flight 9951N."
"Muhua Airlines called?" Lu Jinghua was a little confused at first, but soon realized it. Although it was rare for different companies to add crew members, it was not uncommon: "Is that person from Muhua Airlines?"
"no!"
"Ah?" Lu Jinghua was completely confused. "If he's not from Muhua Airlines, then why did the Muhua Airlines dispatch office call me? Where is that person from?"
"Mr. Lu, that person is from Guoda Airlines, a flight attendant." The dispatcher said helplessly: "Mr. Lu, this is the first time we have encountered such a situation, so we need your instructions."
The dispatch room of Muhua Airlines called to request to add a flight attendant from Guoda Airlines to the Blue Sky Airlines plane. Even Lu Jinghua was overwhelmed. He remembered that Muhua Airlines and Guoda Airlines should be mortal enemies. When did they become so close?
After thinking for a while, Lu Jinghua instructed: "Add it!"
"Oh, okay, I'll add her then."
Just as the dispatcher was about to hang up, Lu Jinghua seemed to have thought of something: "Where is 9951N flying to?"
"Erhai, Mr. Lu! It's a transfer flight."
"Erhai Lake, she wants to go to Erhai Lake, hiss...what does this mean?" Lu Jinghua asked casually: "What's the name of the crew member?"
The dispatcher was silent for a moment, then quickly replied, "It's... Si Linglong."
"Si Linglong...Si?" The more Lu Jinghua thought about it, the more confused he became. He simply stopped thinking about it and hung up the phone.
When Lu Jinghua put away his phone, Luo Yong asked, "Just now I heard you mention 9951N. What is this flight number? Why didn't I mention it? Is it a special flight?"
Generally, if letters are added after the flight number, it means that this flight is not a regular flight.
"Modify the plane and go to Erhai Lake." Lu Jinghua said.
Since it is too troublesome to travel from Erhai Lake to Jianchuan by land, in order to ensure the needs of base personnel to travel back and forth to Jianchuan, the Erhai base will regularly arrange a round-trip transfer aircraft for base personnel to travel to Jianchuan.
Fortunately, Erhai Lake is not far from Jianchuan in the air, so fuel consumption is not much. The flight crew also understands the difficulties of the base and said that they will not ask for hourly fees for this type of aircraft transfer, so the expenditure is still controllable.
"Erhai Lake..." Luo Yong smacked his lips and suddenly thought of something: "Some time ago, Xu Cang asked me to change the plane, but I didn't expect that the plane was not changed and was taken back directly."
Lu Jinghua asked in confusion: "Why do we need to change planes?"
“Because he thought there was something wrong with the plane.”
"There's something wrong with the plane, no way."
"What's wrong? That plane is 1566. Didn't Xu Cang offend Yu Fengtian because of 1566 before? He just thinks there's something wrong with this plane, although he can't figure out why." Luo Yong took a sip of tea, bared his teeth, and raised his eyebrows: "Hey, the plane we're adjusting today is still 1566?"
Lu Jinghua's heart skipped a beat: "Right...right!"