"Have you decided?" Ma Cheng's voice came from the phone. Unlike his usual gloomy tone, this time there was a hint of ridicule in his voice.
Xu Cang heard the hidden meaning of Ma Cheng's words and snorted: "I didn't expect you to have such dirty thoughts."
"Oh, man, I understand, I understand." Ma Cheng laughed: "It's just to reserve a quota for Airbus modification, it's not a big deal. Hehehe, Xu Cang, I really didn't expect it."
A few veins popped up on Xu Cang's forehead: "Alright, I'm hanging up."
"Wait a minute, wait a minute." Ma Cheng heard Xu Cang was about to hang up the phone, and immediately stopped him and said, "Xu Cang, is everything okay with Luo Luo?"
"Haven't you read the news about the Trent 1000? What do you think?" Xu Cang sat back on the bed. "There will be no changes in the A380 being placed at Hanjing Airport. I will meet with Chairman Yue Sheng later to get a formal and definite answer. If you feel like you can't wait any longer, you can reveal some information in advance in an informal setting. There's no problem with that."
Ma Cheng did not have an easy time at Muhua Airlines. Among the three major airlines, in terms of scale, it was not Guoda Airlines that was the largest, but Muhua Airlines.
The extremely large scale has caused Muhua Airlines to be a bit too big to be removed, and the internal cohesion is not good. Previously, Si Weimin used his personal prestige to force Muhua Airlines together. As soon as Si Weimin left, the various factions within Muhua Airlines began to stir. Ma Cheng, the successor, was unable to suppress the disintegrating Muhua Airlines, regardless of prestige or ability. Putting the A380 into Hanjing Airport was a headache for Muhua Airlines before, and now it has been done during Ma Cheng's tenure. This achievement alone can make Ma Cheng's life much easier.
Ma Cheng understood what Xu Cang meant: "I will keep a good balance."
"Well, just handle it yourself." Ma Cheng was most familiar with this kind of thing about grasping the scale, so Xu Cang was still very relieved.
"Boss Ma, there is one more thing I need to discuss with you."
"What?"
"It's like this..." Xu Cang organized his words a little: "In the future, we may open a Tokyo-Yangcheng route. However, it would be a waste to put a plane in Yangcheng just for this route, so I want to use Yangcheng as the starting point and open a few more routes to maximize the utilization of the aircraft."
Ma Cheng was a little surprised: "Tokyo-Yangcheng route, isn't this the route you helped ANA to clear? How come you guys are flying it now?"
According to the previous agreement between Xu Cang and ANA, he helped ANA to clear the airports in Shanghai and Guangzhou. As the owner of the priority right of Guangzhou Airport, Xu Cang naturally approached Muhua Airlines, and at that time he approached Ma Cheng. Therefore, Ma Cheng knew about the relationship between Xu Cang and ANA, but he did not expect that everything would turn around.
"Something happened, so I want to fly by myself. The distance from Guangzhou to Tokyo is large enough for a 737, so there's no need to buy a wide-body aircraft." Xu Cang asked, "Mr. Ma, is that okay?"
Ma Cheng was silent for a moment: "Xu Cang, you want to open more routes in Yangcheng to share the cost of planes and personnel staying overnight. So, according to what you mean, the routes opened in Yangcheng should be of higher quality. However, as you know, those high-quality routes... are a bit difficult for me."
The overall operating cost of Yangcheng Airport is much higher than that of Jianchuan Airport or Erhai Airport.
Therefore, in order to reduce costs, it is best not to stay overnight at high-cost airports. If necessary, it should not be based on the number of routes to accumulate profits, but to choose high-quality routes and operate small and fine.
Low-profit routes that rely on volume will only increase costs. Airport charges are based on the number of flights, not the level of the route.
This was easier to do when Ma Cheng was still the head of the strategy department. Not to mention the top routes like Yangcheng-Hanjing, it was still possible to have one or two second-rate routes. Now that the level has been upgraded, there are more constraints and things are getting harder to do.
Too many eyes were staring at Ma Cheng, making him feel very uncomfortable and sitting on pins and needles.
"It looks like your situation is not optimistic."
"It's OK." Ma Cheng's voice was relaxed. "The biggest trouble is gone. I feel better now. As long as I can get through this year, I should be able to relax. Alas, it's lonely at the top. I really understand the meaning of this sentence now."
"Forget it, a worse route will do. We don't need to make money, as long as we can cut costs."
"Such a request should be acceptable." Ma Cheng said, "Xu Cang, you said before that you wanted to take over the publicity case for the Olympics. This... are you kidding?"
"Then can you guarantee that if I handle this matter well, I can join the board of directors of Muhua Airlines?" Xu Cang said with a smile.
After Si Weimin's death, his shares were inherited by his granddaughter Si Linglong, and her share rose to the position of the fourth largest shareholder of Muhua Airlines.
Si Linglong is willing to give the voting rights of the shares to Xu Cang and only retain the dividends of the shares.
However, given the particularity of Muhua Airlines, some things cannot be completely measured from a market economy perspective. Therefore, even if Si Linglong herself is willing to give the voting rights of the fourth largest shareholder to Xu Cang, this matter is not something Si Linglong can decide alone, and the consent of other directors of the board of directors is required.
Xu Cang has a great reputation, but he has no direct interest in the board of directors of Muhua Airlines. Why should they support Xu Cang to join the board?
Therefore, Xu Cang must do something. This is the necessary way to enter the board of directors of Muhua Airlines.
The chairman of Muhua Airlines is subject to many restrictions, just like Ma Cheng now. However, after entering the board of directors, he can obtain as many voting rights as possible, which can not only exert influence on Muhua Airlines, but also not be subject to some other constraints, which is a very good way.
Muhua Airlines wanted to expand its influence with the A380, and the Olympics was a good opportunity, but the public relations department had no idea how to do it. Instead, Xu Cang, who had no experience in publicity, took the initiative to take on the relevant work. According to Xu Cang's plan, this would be his ticket to join the board of directors of Muhua Airlines.
Facing Xu Cang's questioning, Ma Cheng was silent for a moment, but finally gritted his teeth and said, "Okay! But the prerequisite is that it must be done beautifully."
"Of course." Xu Cang smiled and said, "But you really surprised me. With your personality, I thought you were going to play word games again."
To be honest, it is quite difficult to get Xu Cang to join the board of directors, even if Xu Cang can make some achievements in the Olympic Games publicity case.
According to Ma Cheng's cautious character, he shouldn't have agreed so readily. But Ma Cheng's current reaction was obviously inconsistent with Xu Cang's impression of him.
In this way, Ma Cheng has placed all his bets on Xu Cang.
Xu Cang's entry into the board of directors is not only beneficial to Xu Cang, but also a good thing for Ma Cheng. Ma Cheng was happy to see helpers on the board of directors.
Perhaps, he would have to pay some price to get Xu Cang onto the board of directors, but he thought it would all be worth it.
"If you still care about gains and losses at this time, you are just being blinded by greed."
"Not bad, I didn't expect you to have such awareness." Xu Cang praised.
Ma Cheng is quite capable, otherwise he would not have been chosen as the successor by Si Weiming. However, Si Weiming also saw that Ma Cheng was not broad-minded enough, and he was too concerned about interests and could not see the overall situation. Therefore, Si Weiming was not particularly satisfied with Ma Cheng and had not given him full support, which made Ma Cheng's foundation unstable.
After Si Weimin passed away, this legacy directly led to Ma Cheng's current predicament. Therefore, everything has cause and effect.
"With a different position, your perspective will naturally be different." Ma Cheng said with a smile: "By the way, there is one more thing. Your relationship with Xia...Xia Shuyue is not public, right?"
Hearing this question, Xu Cang immediately became unhappy: "What do you mean by this ?"
"Don't get me wrong." Ma Cheng quickly explained: "Remember Park Deok-gyu, the Korean guy?"
Xu Cang was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect Ma Cheng to mention Park Deok-gyu: "Didn't they say before that he went to Korean Air? Why did you mention him?"
Park Deok-gyu is not very lucky, so it’s better to stay away from him.
"He went to Korean Air before, but somehow he came back." Ma Cheng clicked his tongue: "I don't know if there is something wrong with Korean Air."
Xu Cang snorted, "He can leave if he wants to, and come back if he wants to?"
" Well , after all, he has made contributions to Muhua Airlines. It's not good to be too harsh." Ma Cheng himself didn't like Park Deok-gyu very much, but things in the workplace are not always as one wishes. It is definitely not worth it to cause the disgust of a group of people for Park Deok-gyu.
However, Park Deok-gyu also dislikes Xu Cang. If he knew the relationship between Xia Shuyue and Xu Cang, who knows if Park Deok-gyu would do anything to embarrass Xia Shuyue?
"You really recycle all kinds of garbage." Although Xu Cang kept his distance from Park Deok-gyu because of his rebirth, there was no need to be too deliberate. He could just remind Xia Shuyue.
Moreover, as Ma Cheng asked, not many people knew about his relationship with Xia Shuyue... No, he and Xia Shuyue were just simple friends of the opposite sex!
"You are a tall tree that attracts the wind now, so it's okay to be careful."
"It's okay, just don't tell anyone." Xu Cang said, not really worried about the matter.
After a pause, Xu Cang's tone gradually turned serious: "There is one more thing. I'll help you with the A380 issue. Are you from Jianchuan Base?"
"Xu Cang, I want to talk to you about this, too." Even on the phone, he could hear Ma Cheng swallowing his saliva and feeling guilty: "The scope of the standards you set is too large. Basically, all department vice presidents and above must be dealt with. How about narrowing the scope and only dealing with department heads and above?"
"Okay." Xu Cang agreed without thinking.
Ma Cheng was stunned, a little bit unable to believe that Xu Cang was so easy to talk to: "Really?"
"Really?" Xu Cang said with a smile, "You really impressed me. It's true that it's easy to change a country, but hard to change one's nature. You are still the one who weighs the pros and cons and retreats when faced with difficulties. I'm a very easy person to talk to. If I don't want to fulfill my promise, that's fine! Then I won't fulfill my promise either."
“What about the A380?”
"Ma Cheng, you are still asking about the A380? Don't worry, since Guoda Airlines has already agreed, they don't mind who owns the A380. Or to be more precise, if it's not Muhua's, they will be more likely to accept it. I will make good use of this opportunity. After all, who wouldn't want such a huge publicity effect?" Xu Cangdan smiled, with an unquestionable determination in his words.
Xu Cang's words choked Ma Cheng. He smiled bitterly and said, "You... are really hard to handle."
"The people at Jianchuan Base are pretending to obey you but secretly disobeying you. I've given you such a good opportunity to kill someone with a borrowed knife, but you're still hesitant. What's the point of cooperating with such trash?" Xu Cang snorted coldly, "Without you, I'll do it myself. When I do it, it won't just be the leaders who will suffer, I'll take down the entire Jianchuan Base. I, Xu Cang, always keep my word. I said I'd help you with the A380 issue, and I'll definitely help you with it, but you're not keeping your word. I'm being polite to you, otherwise, I'll get rid of you as well."
Ma Cheng was silent for a long time, and then he said, "Xu Cang, you are really different now."
"Humph, I was alone before, so I had to be cautious. If I still swallow my anger and accept it now, then my many times of wandering between life and death will be in vain, right?" Xu Cang's voice became colder and colder: "I said before that this time I came back like a dragon entering the sea, and you still treat me as a soft persimmon, huh?"
If you don't return home when you are rich and powerful, it is like walking in fine clothes at night.
Xu Cang suffered so much and took so many risks just to not have to look at other people's faces.
Now that Ma Cheng still dares to fool him, can Xu Cang give him a good face?
"I understand." Ma Cheng said dejectedly, "I will fulfill my promise."
"Within 48 hours after Guoda Airlines officially notifies you that the A380 is allowed to enter Hanjing Airport, I want to hear that all leaders above M2 in Jianchuan Base have been fired." Xu Cang said solemnly: "This is your last chance. Don't play tricks on this matter. I don't have as much patience with you as you think."
"I understand." Ma Cheng sighed.
As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Cang hung up the phone.
The beeping sound from the phone made Ma Cheng's mouth muscles twitch a few times, and he slowly put down the phone. Beside him, the assistant saw that Ma Cheng's expression was different and couldn't help but ask in a low voice: "Is there any problem, Chairman?"
"Problem?" Ma Cheng threw his phone onto the table next to him. "He wanted to eat me alive."
"What about the Jianchuan base?"
Ma Cheng inserted his five fingers into his hair in annoyance: "Looks like we have to hurry up."
But it's not that Ma Cheng doesn't want to deal with the people in Jianchuan Base, but he prefers to be a little more peaceful. For example, he will deal with the leaders above the director level first, and then deal with the department leaders up to the director level after a while.
If the time is extended, the resistance encountered will be smaller, and it will be easier to fill the vacancies in time without causing any operational problems.
However, Xu Cang pushed too hard and demanded that everything be done in one go, putting Ma Cheng in a dilemma.
However, Ma Cheng has figured it out. If he really has to choose, Xu Cang is more important, and the Jianchuan base can only undergo a major cleanup.
"I don't think the board will sit idly by."
"Forget it. Xu Cang will have to make deals with those old guys when he joins the board of directors anyway, so let's talk to them first. Jianchuan Base is not a particularly important base. Maybe... the conditions of those old guys won't be too outrageous."
"But...what if those directors don't agree? It is absolutely impossible to directly fire the entire leadership of a base without the approval of the board of directors."
Mentioning this, Ma Cheng became a little upset: "If that time really comes, I'm afraid I won't be able to pretend to be a grandson anymore."
That's right, now Ma Cheng is just pretending to be a grandson. With an unstable foundation, pretending to be a grandson is a safer way to survive. However, this does not mean that Ma Cheng really has no strength at all. If some directors are really stubborn, Ma Cheng will probably have to resort to some means.
After all, Xu Cang's status has been infinitely increased now.
"Not long ago, Rolls-Royce informed us that the sales agency rights for Rolls-Royce engines in the Asia-Pacific region will be transferred to Xu Cang..."
"So, he is really different now. It's too fast. It hasn't been long, but he has already grown to this point." Ma Cheng suddenly seemed to remember something: "Someone will come to our side to modify the Airbus. It's a woman. Pass it on to me, no one should have any ideas about her, and don't say anything extra."
"Who is it?" the assistant asked curiously.
"Huh?" Ma Cheng glared at his assistant fiercely: "You're looking for death."
…
In a private room of a high-end restaurant in Seoul, Choi Sang-do, president of Korean Air, sipped fine wine with a stern look on his face.
There was also a complete set of tableware on the seat opposite him, and it seemed that he was waiting for someone.
The meeting soon will be very important to him. He will meet with members of the Aviation Accident Committee in order to seek some flexibility in the release time of the Minzhuang air crash, even though from a legal point of view, as a stakeholder, it is unreasonable for him to meet with people from the Aviation Accident Committee privately.
However, at the critical moment when Korean Air was acquiring Asiana Airlines, the pace could not be interrupted by the Minzhuang air crash.
Suddenly, the door of the private room was pushed open. A middle-aged man in a suit and leather shoes walked in from outside. He had a serious face and locked his eyes on Cui Xiangdao as soon as he came in.
Cui Xiangdao stood up immediately when he saw someone coming in. However, his eyebrows slightly twisted, this middle-aged man seemed to be a little different from what Director Jin described, shouldn't he be a man with a slightly fat body?
The man in front of me has a very well-proportioned body and seems to have nothing to do with being fat.
However, Cui Xiangdao did not care too much. After all, different people have different definitions of gaining weight, which involves too many subjective feelings.
So he walked closer and asked quietly, "Mr. Kim Jae Hyuk?"
The middle-aged man suddenly laughed: "President Cui?"
"Hmm?" Cui Xiangdao felt that the atmosphere in the box seemed a little wrong.
Suddenly, he noticed the red tag strap inside the middle-aged man's suit.
The tag was completely hidden by the clothing, but there were a few letters printed on the suspenders.
Suddenly, Choi Sang-do's face froze: "You...you are not Kim Jae-hyuk! You are...from the Aviation Disciplinary Committee."
The middle-aged man smiled even more brightly: "President Cui, I didn't expect to meet in this way. As an aviation practitioner, what are you doing meeting with members of the Aviation Accident Investigation Committee in private?"
"You...I..." Cui Xiangdao opened his mouth but couldn't say a word.
The middle-aged man smiled and said, "President Cui, please come with me."