Mr. Shangkong | CAAC making name over flight delays
Frustrated travellers call the mainland aviation regulator Chinese Airlines Always Cancel
Did you know the mainland's aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), has a nickname given by frustrated travellers? To them, CAAC stands for "Chinese Airlines Always Cancel". How ironic.
The massive flight delays across major airports, caused mainly by mysterious People's Liberation Army's military exercises, have become international news headlines.
Delays are understandable if caused by bad weather or technical problems, but more travellers are getting fed up with the PLA's self-important attitude towards how it wants to control the skies with little public explanation.
To be fair, local governments such as Shanghai and Beijing, as well as major carriers including Air China and China Eastern Airlines, are also victims in the drama, which comes at a time when the leadership under President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang is keen to boost foreign investment in the world's No 2 economy.
It is about time top bosses including Xi ... come up with a solution to these flight delays
The leaders also want more multinationals to move their regional headquarters to cities such as Shanghai, where the mainland's first free-trade zone was launched 10 months ago.
"We're trying to get more foreign companies to come to Pudong to set up their headquarters, but these days when we meet those foreign company representatives, they jokingly ask: 'Can you get us to Shanghai without such frequent flight delays?'" said a Shanghai city government official. "This kind of question makes us feel very awkward."