Air China delays

Air China delays

On Dec. 27, 1996, I flew Air China to Beijing, assuming that
the country's "Visit China 1997" program would guarantee good
service. I bought a return Jakarta-Beijing-Jakarta ticket.

The flight (CA972) to Beijing stopped in Xiamen, a provincial
capital in China, due to reported engine trouble. Passengers were
asked to wait in the airport.

It took a long time to repair because they had to order the
spare parts from Beijing. Following heated arguments with the Air
China representative in Xiamen, the stranded passengers were
housed in a small hotel with minimal facilities. On Dec. 28 we
still had not been given definite information concerning the rest
of the journey to Beijing, except the management's statement that
due to bad weather in Beijing the flight might be further
delayed.

When we heard television and radio reports that the weather
had improved, we contacted Air China to enquire about the matter.
But I was dealt with impolitely and unprofessionally. Only a few
of their staff could speak English, which made things worse.
Finally, at 6 p.m. local time, we departed for Beijing.

On the return journey to Jakarta on Jan. 2, 1997, I had a
similar experience. The flight (CA971) was delayed for unclear
reasons. Again we exchanged heated arguments with the management,
which managed to secure a Russian-made aircraft to fly us to
Jakarta at 5:30 p.m., a delay of about eight hours.

Thank God I arrived in Jakarta safely.

R. ROKHIM

Jakarta