Unlike in the so-called “Great Christmapocalypse of 2014” set off by a string of delayed Cebu Pacific flights that caused widespread anger and massive chaos in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) last Christmas day, the man behind AirAsia, the airline company that owns and operates the ill-fated Airbus which crashed in the Java Sea, was within reach by relatives of the passengers a few hours after it was reported that the plane went missing while flying to Singapore from Surabaya, Indonesia.
Asian and western media often compare the professionalism and hands-on style of AirAsia’s Mr. Tony Fernandes in handling the aviation disaster, with Malaysian Airline’s shoddy public relations management in the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines MH370 with 239 people on board in March last year. As we know, this was followed by another Malaysian Airlines mishap in July when MH17 carrying 298 passengers was shot down in Ukraine. Comparisons cannot be helped because AirAsia is a Malaysian-registered company and MAS is Malaysia’s flag carrier.
Still, I think Mr. Fernandes’ compassion and professionalism is best appreciated when we compare how Cebu Pacific handled the anarchy in the NAIA on Christmas Day.
Hundreds of stranded and irate customers vented their anger on frontline employees because flights were cancelled and prior bookings were not honored. I am told workers who man the counters of airline companies are casual workers or contract-of-service employees who work on a 6-months basis. I am sure they silently cursed the airline for the overbooking malpractice and why they were made to face angry people on account of the airline’s mismanagement. Not one organic official from Cebu Pacific showed up to explain the chaos.
The Gokongwei family owns Cebu Pacific and when one leafs through the pages of the airline’s inflight magazine, the picture of Lance Gokongwei leaps from the editorial box. So, where was he or his underlings when the NAIA Christmas day snafu occurred?
We’re into the first week of the New Year but many people are still talking about the grim aviation disaster that happened in the fading days of 2014.
AirAsia QZ8501 was en route to Singapore from Indonesia’s second largest city of Surabaya when the Airbus A320-200 disappeared from radar on December 28.
Two weeks into the aviation disaster, some significant information had been established: the plane crashed into the Java Sea but what caused the disaster that claimed the lives 137 adult passengers, 17 children and one infant, two pilots and five crew remains a mystery.
Over the weekend, some 30 bodies were recovered from the sea with some still fastened to their seats, indicating that the plane hit the water in one piece. Experts suggest of mechanical error instead of a “mid-air break up due to an explosion or sudden de-pressurization”.
A report by The Guardian quoted aviation authorities as saying that the pilot of the ill-fated plane may have made emergency landing on the Java Sea only to be overcome by high seas.
The plane was traveling at 32,000 feet (9,750 meters) when it requested to climb to 38,000 feet to avoid bad weather. When air traffic controllers consented to allow it to climb to 34,000 feet a few minutes later, they got no reply. A source quoted by Reuters said that radar data appeared to show that the aircraft’s “unbelievably” steep climb may have been beyond the Airbus A320’s limits.
Information from the web says the AirbusA320-200 belongs to the Airbus family manufactured by the European consortium Airbus Industries.
The Airbus model is said to be the best selling aircraft line and is best known as the first aircraft to introduce a fly-by-wire system, where controls from the pilot are transmitted to the flying moving parts by electronic signals rather than mechanical means.
A “smart” plane like that can’t be entrusted to a mediocre pilot, so AirAsia chose the Indonesian Iryanto, an outstanding student in flight school.
An Airbus plus an adept aviator overcome by bad weather is such a weird scenario that aviation experts are at loss on why the plane crashed. Some friends of mine who don’t have any aviation knowledge or skills except that like me, they do suffer from some degree of aerophobia – that feeling of unease or dread when riding an airplane – are prompted to offer their two-cents-worth-theories.
One suggested that although the Airbus pilot was prepared to meet a storm, he did not expect it to be so violent on a higher altitude, causing the plane’s hi-tech gadgetry to conk out, leading to its demise.