China's State-run airlines are enraging passengers with horrible delays

During the past decade, China has spent billions on building some of the largest and most modern airports in the world. With so many new stunning airports, one would think that they would be the envy of the world. Here is the catch; Chinese airports are renowned for having horrible punctuality. In fact, not a single Chinese airport managed to get even half of its flights to leave on time. Even worse, Beijing’s Capital Airport had an anemic 18% of its flights leave on time last month, making it the worst major airport for punctuality in the world.

What do these constant delays do to the psyche of the Chinese travelers? Well, it enrages them beyond belief. Violent attacks have erupted at airports across China. Angry passengers are taking out their frustrations on hapless airport and airline staff members. Back in July, 30 angry passengers broke through security and stormed the runway at Nanchang airport after being delayed for 7 hours. This summer alone has seen at least eight large protests at departure gates throughout China. There have been numerous reports of random attacks on flight attendants. One such attack involved a man assaulting a stewardess on a delayed flight while other passengers watched and even applauded him while he hit her.

Protesters battle with police and airline personnel at a Chinese airport

 

This is all disturbing news on both fronts. The fact that these flight delays are so rampant is a great cause for concern for anyone traveling in China. On the other side, it is also very disturbing that airline workers are subject to violent attacks for something they have no control over.

As China continues to boost its airport infrastructure, the world will be watching to see if they can improve on punctuality and efficiency. This is certainly a cause for concern for Western businessmen who frequent China on business. They will no doubt be keeping an eye on this issue in the next year and hoping that the situation improves.

U.S. issues travel warning for Egypt

Amidst the recent string of protests of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, the U.S. has issued the strongest travel warnings for Egypt since the 2011 revolution. The White House has ordered all non-emergency diplomatic staff to leave the country.

At least 7 people have been killed during the clashes, with hundreds more reported injured. One of the casualties was a 21 year old American student named Andrew Pochter. Pochter was working for a U.S. charity teaching English to children. He was stabbed to death in Alexandria while taking pictures of the clashes.

This is an especially dangerous time for journalists, as one Egyptian journalist died in a bomb attack, along with many other journalists who have been beaten and robbed. A Dutch journalist was reportedly raped while covering the protests.



Protesters fill the streets of Cairo

Protesters are threatening to march Tuesday evening on Cairo’s presidential palace if Morsi does not step down by then. With the possibility of more violent clashes, the government is highly encouraging all foreign nationals to leave Egypt immediately.

US Airway flight attendants hold protests

US Airway flight attendants, represented by the Association of Flight-Attendants-CWA (AFA), held protests at four airports yesterday (November 14^th). The flight attendants are protesting after management failed to negotiate a single contract for the more than 6,700 flight attendants. America West and US Airways merged in 2005 but the merger is still incomplete and flight attendants are working under separate contracts in separate operations.

The major gripe for these workers is that while US Airways profits continue to soar, pre-merger America West flight attendants have not seen a contract improvement since 1999. These workers are continuing to work on outdated contracts they reached during the airline’s bankruptcy.

US Airways flight attendants protest at Charlotte Douglas

This unified protest shows that the flight attendants are willing to take action to see change. In the event of a strike, US Airways flight attendants would utilize CHAOS tactics- which stands for Create Havoc Around Our System. This would include intermittent strikes called without warning to the traveling public or management.

This becomes a big issue as Doug Parker, CEO of US Airways, eyes a merger with American Airlines. He must first work with his current US Airways employees and settle the unfinished business from the first merger before concentrating on a second merger with American Airlines. A strike does not seem to be imminent, but with its flight attendants compensation roughly equivalent to what it was in 1996, US Airways should focus on keeping its hard working employees content.