Chapter 349: Penghu plane crash!
Jahad and Ahmed left the conference room. After walking for a while, there was no one around. Ahmed couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Mohammed, did you deal with those planes in Victorville privately?"
Jahad really didn't seem to care. "Why, no way? They're just a few retired planes. No one wants them."
"There are people who want them, and a lot of them," Ahmed said quickly. "Several aircraft leasing companies want to buy our retired and stored aircraft."
Qatar Airways is well-known for its wealth. Its retired and stored aircraft are newer than many second-hand aircraft of other companies. It is no secret that all aircraft leasing companies are coveting Qatar Airways' retired and stored aircraft.
However, Qatar Airways has never agreed to sell retired and stored aircraft, but today it did make an exception.
"Oh, if we sell those planes, wouldn't outsiders think that Qatar Airways is short of money?" Jahad waved his hand.
Ahmed: "Then Mr. Mohammed, you give Xu Cang..."
"This doesn't count..." Jahad organized his words a little: "I've already said that this is a meeting gift between friends, it doesn't count as... a commercial act. Besides, didn't Xu Cang give money? He was very polite."
Ahmed's mouth twitched. Jahad was obviously trying to change the subject, but Jahad was a decision-maker at Qatar Airways and had a very high status. He was just mentioning it and it was not right for him to question Jahad.
Seeing that Jahad had made up his mind, Ahmed could not say anything more. Although Xu Cang paid half the price of a second-hand aircraft in the international aircraft trading market, he should be able to explain it to the board of directors.
However, I'm afraid I'll have to spend a lot of time and effort to explain it when I get back.
The retired and sealed aircraft were not a matter of principle, so it was enough to just talk about it. As for going to Scandinavia to see the aurora, Ahmed's tone was much more serious: "Mr. Mohammed, there have been frequent volcanic activities in Northern Europe in recent years. Several flights have encountered danger due to volcanic ash."
"It hasn't erupted yet." Jahad smiled, looking like he really wasn't worried at all.
"But according to the current situation, the volcanoes in the far north of Europe are becoming more and more active. No one can predict what will happen in a few months." Ahmed advised: "Also, if the volcanic ash is particularly serious, it will cover the sun and the aurora will not be visible at all."
"I agreed with her to go see the Northern Lights. If I can't see the Northern Lights, then I won't go."
Ahmed's expression froze for a moment, and he really didn't know what to say. The Jahad family was all heartless and cold-hearted, so how could such an infatuated person appear out of nowhere? It was extremely strange.
"If a volcano erupts... it's not just ash... "
"Then you'd better hope that the volcanic ash is bigger." Jahad smiled, "Then I don't have to go there."
Ahmed was speechless for a long time. Finally, he could only shake his head helplessly and talk about business: "I have contacted the leaders of Guoda, Tiandong and Muhua Airlines. You can meet with them at any time during this period. However, is it necessary for you to come in person for this matter?"
Jahad put his hands behind his back and said, "East Asia, especially China, is developing faster and faster, and there is great potential in the future. It is necessary to establish international routes with them in advance. This time I came here to try to negotiate three international routes between Hamad and Hanjing, and between Shanghai and Yangcheng."
"But this is not a simple business transaction. It ultimately has to be considered from a political perspective. If the higher-ups don't agree, it will be useless even if we reach an agreement."
Jahad smiled and said, "It's okay. Let's just talk about business cooperation. We don't care about other things. I believe the people from the three major airlines also know this. Let's go. It's really comfortable here in the summer..."
"According to the seasonal divisions here, it's already August, so it can't be considered summer."
"That's comfortable too." Jahad looked back at Ahmed. "It's just very dry, as dry as Doha."
…
After Jahad and Ahmed left, Xu Cang did not leave. He sat in the conference room and pondered for a long time, and began to consider the changes in his future plans. Originally, Xu Cang had other plans to supplement the transportation capacity, but he did not expect a great gift from heaven, buying more than a dozen 737s at a very low price, which was a pleasant surprise.
Of course, not all of these aircraft are NG series, there are also six 737-300s and 737-400s. But in this era, there are still many 737 300 and 400 models. They are not rare models, not as good as NG series, but definitely enough.
With these dozen aircraft, Spring Airlines' domestic routes will once again usher in good development.
According to Lu Xiaoxiao's feedback, many good routes cannot increase flight schedules due to lack of capacity. For example, the short-haul route from Rongfu to Jianchuan is a classic example.
The flight time of this route is only one hour and fifteen minutes, which is considered very short. However, the ticket price is 60% higher than the price of the long-distance route such as Erhai-Tianning, which takes two hours and fifty minutes.
Of course, even though Spring Airlines’ ticket prices are on the higher side, compared to other companies, the discounts are still huge.
But even at this price, there are at least three round-trip flights a day, and they are always overcrowded. It is rare for the seat rate to be less than 80%. According to the calculations of the marketing department, at least two more flights can be added to the Rongfu-Jianchuan route, which means five round-trip flights a day.
Even with five flights a day, the marketing department still thinks it can maintain a very high occupancy rate. This means there is still room for profit. However, although Xu Cang reached a deal with Rongcheng Airlines, the local boss of Rongfu Airport, a long time ago to allow Spring Airlines to open routes at Rongfu Airport. However, some things cannot be done too extreme. Five flights a day is almost the limit. If there are more, other companies will be unhappy. Isn't this grabbing territory?
Currently, Spring Airlines is limited by the shortage of transport capacity. Some routes have been approved but not yet in operation. The number of routes is not large. As a result, the profits of the two routes, Rongfu-Jianchuan and Jianchuan-Luoshui, account for 30% to 40% of the total profit.
Apart from other things, there is still room for adding two round trips on the Rongfu-Jianchuan route, and one more flight on the Jianchuan-Luxie route. The Rongfu-Jianchuan route is operated by 800 aircraft, and the Jianchuan-Luxie route is operated by 900 aircraft. If Jianchuan-Luxie needs to operate overtime, it will take up the space of 900 aircraft to fly other routes, and it is best to replace it with 800 aircraft.
Ultimately, there is still insufficient transportation capacity.
If there are no major problems with Qatar's mothballed 737s in Victorville, the capacity shortage problem in the short term will be alleviated a lot. However, in the long run, it is still not enough.
After Xu Cang brings Asiana Airlines under his control, he can optimize the transportation capacity by deploying aircraft. Taking this opportunity, Spring Airlines will be able to obtain another batch of aircraft, and then the transportation capacity will be more sufficient in the future.
After all, a number of northwest routes will be developed in the future, and there is really a shortage of aircraft.
Just when Xu Cang was lost in thought, the cell phone in his pocket suddenly rang. He picked it up and it turned out to be a call from Lin Ming from AVIC.
After the call was connected, Lin Ming was heard saying, "Xu Cang, the helicopter deal has been finalized. Find someone to sign the contract. It's a friendly price."
Not long ago, because Chen Huaxin was going to open a helicopter sightseeing company, Xu Cang helped to buy a new light helicopter from AVIC. With Xu Cang's help, Lin Ming naturally had no intention of making money, and basically just paid the cost price.
Now Xu Cang and AVIC are tied together, and Lin Ming is clear about this.
"I know, I know, Mr. Lin, I'll treat you to a meal later." Xu Cang laughed.
"Just a meal?"
"Ten meals, ten meals." Xu Cang said hurriedly.
"Forget it, forget it, it's just a joke." Lin Ming laughed: "It's just a light helicopter, it's not a big deal, I'm just helping you. But what are you going to do, are you trying to play with it?"
"What should I play? Fixed-wing aircraft are enough for me to play with." Xu Cang immediately told Lin Ming about Chen Huaxin's plan to open a helicopter travel company. There was nothing to hide.
After hearing this, Lin Ming smacked his lips and said, "It's a good idea, but are you sure your friend can get a general aviation establishment permit?"
"Huh? It's hard to get a Part 121 license, and it's also hard to get a general aviation license for helicopters?"
In order to get the quota for establishing Spring Airlines, Xu Cang used a roundabout way to get the quota for Jianchuan Base of Muhua Airlines. However, this is the standard for large-scale air transport enterprises under Part 121, so the difficulty is understandable.
But the general aviation quota for helicopters should be much easier, right?
"It's hard to say." Lin Ming probably knows some inside information: "If it was in the past, it might not be very difficult. But now that the large civil aviation market has been liberalized, there will be more and more airlines under Part 121 in the future, and there will be more and more routes. As you know, only a small part of the domestic airspace can be used by civil aviation. With more large aircraft, the routes are already congested, and naturally it will squeeze out the space for small aircraft. In order not to affect the operation of large aircraft, the authority will definitely be strict in approving general aviation. Don't you know that the authority has also tightened the approval procedures for flight schools under Part 141? Now everyone knows that opening a flight school is making a lot of money, so why haven't any new flight schools emerged in China? That's the reason. The airspace is getting more and more tense, and there is a sequence. First comes large civil aviation, then flight school training, and finally general aviation tourism."
It is not new that China's general aviation is far less developed than that of foreign countries. One of the important reasons is that the domestic airspace resources are extremely tight. Now that the large civil aviation market has been liberalized, more airlines and large passenger aircraft have poured in, and the already scarce civil aviation airspace is naturally even more stretched.
The priority of airspace use mentioned by Lin Ming is large-scale civil aviation transportation, pilot training, and finally general aviation.
There are many categories in general aviation, such as public-domain meteorological detection, geological survey or map mapping, which have a higher priority, while tourism and sightseeing have a lower priority even in general aviation.
This immediately silenced Xu Cang.
"How about this, you should ask the General Administration first. If there is no problem, then buy the helicopter." Lin Ming suggested: "Anyway, I will keep the order for you. Ask clearly before buying, otherwise you can't buy it and it can't fly."
Xu Cang thought for a moment and said, "Should I ask Feibiao about this?"
"That should be the case." Lin Ming said with a smile, "You have a good relationship with Director Wu of the Feibiao Division, so ask him about the situation."
"Director Wu Yue." Xu Cang scratched his head: "Thank you for reminding me, I'll go ask."
"Oh, there is one more thing. We have reached a cooperation with Embraer. In the future, we will provide fuselage components to Embraer. This is a good step." Lin Ming said: "However, the price offered by Embraer is not very high, only slightly higher than Bombardier."
Previously, AVIC and Bombardier had a strategic partnership. The fuselage components they supplied to Bombardier were almost unprofitable, but now that it has been replaced by Embraer, the price has not been raised much.
"This is a bit too much." Xu Cang was a little dissatisfied.
AVIC nominally has a technology transfer relationship with Bombardier, which is why it can keep the price of parts so low. However, AVIC and Embraer do not have a technology transfer cooperation relationship, so how can Embraer have the nerve to lower the price so much?
Xu Cang felt that there was no need for AVIC to suffer this.
After the trip to the Alps, the fuselage strength of AVIC has withstood the test of reality. In the future, there will definitely be more aircraft manufacturers seeking to purchase from AVIC. There is no need to be humble in the face of Embraer.
Moreover, Embraer's main market is business jets and regional jets. The ceiling of these two fields is relatively low, and there is no long-term significance in mixing with Embraer at a low price.
Lin Ming explained, "The Embraer representative said that they are currently in a price war with Bombardier, so their capital chain is tight. Once the Bombardier issue is resolved, they will raise prices by about 10%."
"Fighting a price war with Bombardier?" Xu Cang was stunned: "Why would they do this?"
Although Xu Cang would like to see Embraer and Bombardier fight to the death, he still hopes to find out what happened.
"It seems that Airbus came forward." Lin Ming laughed and said, "This kind of thing cannot be explained too clearly. The competition between Embraer and Bombardier has a long history. If Airbus is willing to enter the market, Embraer will definitely be very willing to cooperate."
"Airbus has stepped in?" Xu Cang was immediately happy. He didn't expect that Airbus would do something so ruthless. It directly cut off the source of the problem. The method was quite cruel.
As expected, when a multinational giant like Airbus plays tricks, ordinary people may not be able to withstand it.
"How about it, can you agree to it?"
"Of course I can agree! Business jets and regional airliners are the main source of profits for Bombardier's aircraft business. It is crucial to cut off this." Xu Cang smiled and said, "I will meet the CEOs of the three major airlines later..."
"how?"
"Of course, we will cancel all Bombardier orders." Xu Cang snorted, "Bombardier has many alternative products for regional aircraft and business jets. I am confident that I can cancel all Bombardier orders from the three major airlines. However, most of Bombardier's aircraft customers are still in Europe and the United States. This depends on the methods of Airbus and Boeing. As long as Bombardier's capital chain is broken, there will be something interesting to watch."
Bombardier's capital chain is actually very fragile. The investment in the C Series aircraft has almost exhausted Bombardier's reserves. Now it only needs a slight push...
"I understand." Xu Cang had already told Lin Ming about the Bombardier matter, so he was not surprised: "Okay, you can ask Director Wu first. Once you figure things out, we can talk about the helicopter order later."
Just as Xu Cang was about to say something, his phone vibrated again: "Incoming call."
I glanced at the screen and it turned out to be a call from Wu Yue.
Just when I was about to look for Wu Yue, Wu Yue called me on her own initiative. What a coincidence.
"You keep busy."
"Okay, let's talk later." Xu Cang quickly answered Wu Yue's call: "Director Wu!"
"Xu Cang, where are you now? In China?" Wu Yue asked straight to the point.
"Yes, at Erhai Lake." Xu Cang heard the urgency in Wu Yue's words: "What happened, Director Wu?"
"You are alright, right? No, even if you are, you should make time to come to Hanjing." Wu Yue said solemnly, "Within three days."
Xu Cang thought about it for a moment. He felt that he hadn't done anything wrong recently. He couldn't help but wonder, "Director Wu, why did you ask me to go to the General Administration?"
“Not only do you have to come here, but you also have to bring written materials on the CDFA descent technique.”
Xu Cang was a little unhappy now: "Director Wu, didn't I say that I didn't want to promote CDFA?"
"Give me a reason."
Xu Cang was honest and said directly: "It's too troublesome."
Wu Yue fell silent. "But now the trouble has come. The chairman of ICAO's Technical Standards Committee came and asked to see you because of the CDFA technology."
"Technical Standards Committee?"
"The Technical Standards Committee is..."
"I know what department it is."
This department is equivalent to the ICAO's flight standards, and is specifically responsible for specifying or reviewing technical standards. It also issues qualifications to relevant personnel. For example, Xu Cang's flight specialist license was issued in the name of the Technical Standards Committee.
In a sense, the Technical Standards Committee is the department that Xu Cang needs to be directly responsible for in ICAO.
"However, there is one thing I don't understand." Xu Cang frowned: "How do they know about CDFA?"
When this was mentioned, there were a few coughs on the other end of the phone. "Well... that is... after you came up with this flying method, we did a little research and submitted the overview document to ICAO. Originally it was just a rough study, but we didn't expect them to take it so seriously that they directly asked the chairman of the Technical Standards Committee to come over."
"Isn't that what you guys did?" A few blue veins popped out on Xu Cang's forehead.
The reason why he had been reluctant to promote CDFA technology before was because he had foreseen such a situation.
Although being an ICAO flight commissioner meant that Xu Cang didn't have to be restricted by CAAC, it also put a yoke on Xu Cang, which was the restriction from ICAO. He enjoyed the rights of an ICAO flight commissioner, but naturally he also had to bear the relevant obligations.
However, most of the time, ICAO does not directly ask Xu Cang to do anything.
But once Xu Cang promotes CDFA, it will inevitably be noticed by ICAO.
This non-precision approach descent method derived from the concept of stabilized approach will be promoted throughout the world in the future and is a very mature descent method.
CDFA technology is at least 15 years ahead of the times. As long as ICAO knows about it, it will definitely be taken seriously. As long as it is taken seriously, it will be like this now.
Xu Cang was subordinate to the Technical Standards Committee in terms of organization, so he had the obligation to cooperate with the actions of the Technical Standards Committee. Now that the chairman of the Technical Standards Committee had come, if Xu Cang did not go, he might be stripped of his status as a flight specialist.
However, Xu Cang doesn’t want to lose his identity as a flight specialist yet. This thing is really too useful.
As a result, he dodged left and right, but still didn't expect that he was tricked.
"What should we do now?" Xu Cang's tone was full of displeasure. He had so many things to do now, so how could he have the time to promote CDFA technology.
Xu Cang was sure that even if he met with the chairman of the Technical Standards Committee later, it would definitely not mean the end. A technology that could be promoted worldwide would probably take at least five years of trial operation, and as the proposer, he would definitely be involved in any problems encountered during the process.
The key point is that Xu Cang doesn't want to spend time participating in it.
Wu Yue also felt a little guilty: "This matter...is not our original intention. However, now that it has come to this, since you are an ICAO flight specialist, if you dare to stand up the chairman of the Technical Standards Committee, he can revoke your specialist license the next day."
Hearing this, the veins on Xu Cang's forehead became more prominent.
"Director Wu, if I go there, can you approve a 91-unit business license for me?" Xu Cang suddenly asked.
"You..." Wu Yue immediately shouted, "Xu Cang, do you know what you are talking about? You want me to use public resources for personal gain? Can you negotiate conditions for such a thing?"
Xu Cang smiled and said, "Director Wu, I didn't express myself clearly. If I prepare the registration information for a Part 91 general aviation company in accordance with the regulations, will the authority approve it?"
"Hmph!" Wu Yue snorted in dissatisfaction: "You should think before you speak, kid. How can you talk like that? We are naturally following the regulations. If your application materials are in compliance with the regulations, of course we can approve it."
"Oh ~~~" Xu Cang said with a long tone: "I understand. Thank you Director Wu for clearing up my doubts."
"You really know how to pick the time." Director Wu was getting a little impatient. "Prepare the detailed materials of CDFA technology within three days, and then come to Hanjing. Got it?"
Although Xu Cang was still somewhat reluctant, being able to discuss things to this point was already the best solution.
"Okay, I'll be there on time."
"By the way, the chief engineers of EASA and FAA also want to see you..."
Xu Cang's face turned dark: "Am I a monkey in the zoo? Everyone wants to see me."
"The two of them don't have any requirements. You just need to meet them. You don't need to prepare anything." Wu Yue reminded: "You know, we are currently running for Class I directors. We need to pay attention to our relationship with EASA and FAA."
"That Part 141 aviation school license..."
"Xu Cang!" Wu Yue was really angry now: "It's enough to let you bargain once. What do you think CAAC is? Don't be arrogant because of your favor!"
"It's just a joke, it's just a joke." Xu Cang probably knew where Wu Yue's bottom line was, and didn't dare to say anything more.
"Not long ago, you saved EASA Director Winston in Europe, and he even called Director Li to express his gratitude. In any case, your performance in Europe this time is a great honor for CAAC. In addition to the Part 91 matter you applied for, we have prepared some gifts for you, which will make you happy."
When Xu Cang heard this, he immediately grinned and was just about to strike the snake while it was still open.
Suddenly, a burst of hurried footsteps was heard, and Lu Jinghua roughly pushed open the half-open door of the conference room.
Xu Cang subconsciously put down his phone: "What's wrong?"
Lu Jinghua panted heavily, and it took a long time for him to recover: "Xu Cang, there was an accident with China Airlines in the Penghu waters, and someone from our company was on the plane."
