CCTV News:On the evening of January 24th, local time, Jetstar flight GK35 from Narita Airport in Tokyo, Japan to Pudong Airport in Shanghai was cancelled due to snowfall at its destination in Shanghai. Of the 180 passengers on the flight, 5 Japanese passengers left the airport by themselves, while the remaining 175 passengers from China were stranded in the boarding gate area of the airport.
After the cancellation of the flight, Jetstar asked the passengers to leave the boarding area, take their luggage and solve the accommodation problems by themselves, but it didn’t explain in Chinese that the airport stipulated that the area would be closed after 11 pm, which led to the passengers in China not accepting the airline’s arrangement, and conflicts broke out, during which they even sang March of the Volunteers to protest. Until the Japanese Embassy intervened, China passengers stranded at the airport finally returned to Shanghai smoothly in the early morning of 26th.
My ambassador to Japan restored the incident.
Wang Jun, Counsellor and Consul General of the Consular Section of the China Embassy in Japan, said that the flight was scheduled to board at 10: 15 and take off at 10: 45 on the night of the incident, but before the passengers boarded the plane, they received a notice from the airline that the flight would be cancelled due to the weather in Shanghai, which caused passengers to panic. China’s embassy in Japan was informed of the news and immediately intervened overnight.
"At about 12 o’clock at night (stranded passengers) called our mobile phone on duty, which was announced to the public. After learning about the situation, we urgently coordinated with the airport authorities and airlines, and learned that the boarding gate where (stranded passengers) are located will be closed at 23 o’clock, and the boarding gate is a temporary area outside the customs. These passengers are afraid of the trouble of entering the customs the next day after exiting, or if the weather in Shanghai is not good, they may not be able to board the plane the next day, and they have no bottom in mind. Later, we coordinated on both sides. Some tourists thought it was irresistible weather and went to the hotel to rest. Some went to the area where the airport could rest, but some tourists were near the boarding gate. "
It is reported that in the early morning of 25th, a China passenger tried to go to the vending machine on the second floor of the departure area to buy food, but was stopped by the airline staff, which caused other passengers’ dissatisfaction. He had a verbal dispute with the two staff members present, and then it developed into a physical conflict. After receiving the alarm, the Japanese police came to the scene to deal with it. Some passengers on the scene asked to send a Chinese interpreter to cooperate with the police investigation, but the police ignored it and took one of the China tourists away. The scene was in chaos.
Regarding the situation at that time, Counselor Wang Jun introduced that the boarding gate area was not open to the public after 23: 00, and a special area was set aside under the coordination of all parties. Everyone could rest at the boarding gate, but they could not walk around. At that time, the electricity and heating in this area were deliberately turned on normally. There is no corresponding logistics facilities in this temporary area. After a long time, tourists may go to other areas because of hunger or other circumstances. At that time, the airline and the airport authorities agreed that these tourists could stay here temporarily, but they could not expand the area to walk around. Due to poor communication in language and other aspects, tourists were more excited, and then the two sides developed into physical conflicts.
After urgent negotiations and repeated coordination by the embassy, the airline promised to treat the stranded passengers properly, pay compensation for meals and arrange the next flight to transport passengers. After efforts, the stranded passengers successfully returned to Shanghai in the early morning of the 26th. At the same time, the Japanese Embassy in China also sent personnel to visit China tourists who were taken away by the police for investigation, demanding that the police handle them fairly according to law and effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of the parties concerned.
"We went to visit him with a lawyer, hoping to provide more help within the scope of the law. We made representations to the police, demanding that they be treated humanely, including fair and just treatment, and try their best to safeguard his legitimate rights and interests. The China tourists who were taken away for investigation have no problems in their physical condition and mental state. The lawyer has been communicating with him and is currently in the process of legal procedures. "
Counselor Wang Jun said that the Japanese Embassy in will continue to pay attention to the follow-up progress of the incident, and at the same time remind citizens who travel abroad to treat emergencies rationally and avoid excessive rights protection or involvement in unnecessary legal disputes. I hope tourists will be more rational and seek help from the embassy. The Embassy of China in Japan will try its best to express tourists’ demands to all parties and try its best to help everyone within the legal framework.
Both airlines and passengers are responsible.
Many Japanese media also reported the incident on 26th, and used words such as "commotion" and "China atrocities". Most Japanese netizens were critical of the behavior of China passengers.
On the same day, Jetstar’s head of public relations admitted in an interview that at first, only Japanese-and English-speaking staff were sent to guide passengers to leave the boarding gate, but China passengers refused to leave. Later, I sent a staff who can speak Chinese, but I don’t know the specific arrival time. The source said that the company’s regulations do not provide any services because of the cancellation of flights due to weather and other reasons. When customers purchase tickets, they have clicked to agree with the relevant regulations, but some customers may not have carefully read the above regulations. He also denied the rumors about "treating Japanese passengers differently from China passengers" on the Internet.
For this matter, some netizens in China think that it is unwise to carry out excessive rights protection while knowing that it is a low-cost airline.
Netizen "Exponential Power" believes that when buying cheap air tickets, we should still read the contract details clearly.
Netizen "Numb_Madao" thinks that a penny is worth a penny.
Some netizens also pointed out that even if airlines are not responsible for canceling flights due to bad weather, they should be responsible for the follow-up resettlement of passengers.
The netizen "Long Er’s big face is really big" suggested that Jetstar Airlines would not have such a big conflict if it had sent Chinese-speaking staff to coordinate earlier.
Netizen "Zhao Xiaojiu Mu Zi" believes that Jetstar should communicate with customers in a responsible manner even if it is not responsible for the accommodation expenses caused by the cancellation of the plane.
A Shanghai passenger, who asked not to be named, believes that both sides are responsible for this matter. The passenger said in an interview: "I think both the airline and the tourists are responsible for the conflict. The airline did not send a Chinese commentator to explain the situation to the tourists at the first time, which led to misunderstanding; Secondly, some China tourists did not read the rules and regulations carefully after buying the cheap air tickets, which led to a lack of clear understanding of the services they could enjoy later. "
Zhao Yan, Counsellor of the Consular Protection Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, also talked about his own views. He said: "This is an ordinary dispute between passengers and airlines. In this specific situation, it is obviously inappropriate to solve the problem by singing the national anthem collectively, but it is easy to provoke national feelings and even intensify contradictions. Imagine if a group of Japanese tourists sang the Japanese national anthem at the Beijing airport because of a dispute with the airlines, ordinary people in China might feel uncomfortable. Don’t do to others what you don’t want. "
Zhao Yan said that nearly 140 million China people leave the country every year, and it is normal to encounter some unexpected events for various reasons. The people of China need to be psychologically prepared for this and cannot rely on the government for everything. This is not the mentality of a mature big country citizen.
To tell the truth, no one wants to change the itinerary due to force majeure during travel. Now that we have a problem, we should find a way to solve it instead of taking extreme measures in anger. It is conceivable that the airline failed to provide connecting service and did not provide accommodation and catering arrangements at the first time, which was really unacceptable at the moment.
In fact, the carrier airline is Jetstar Airlines, a low-cost flight under Qantas. Passengers who have taken cheap flights know that not only meals have to be paid for, but even blankets on board have to be rented. Once the low-cost flights are grounded due to force majeure, no connecting service will be arranged, all of which are reflected in the exemption agreement signed with passengers in advance. This time, due to the sudden heavy snowfall in Shanghai, the flight could not fly normally, and the airline handled it according to the agreement. From the legal point of view, there is nothing to blame.
However, in the incident, 175 passengers were reluctant to leave for a long time, causing the conflict to continue to escalate. Perhaps the airline lacks coping measures, and may not be able to communicate effectively with passengers, but it should not be a passenger in any case if it collides with the police or even causes injuries. The Chinese Embassy in China reminds Japanese citizens that "when purchasing air tickets, you should read the purchase agreement carefully, and treat it rationally in case of emergencies, so as to avoid over-safeguarding rights or getting involved in unnecessary legal disputes", which is a euphemism to remind our people that you don’t have to enjoy the transportation service if you buy a ticket, and you don’t have to send me to a place if you spend money. Abiding by rules and respecting contracts are the qualities that citizens in a society ruled by law should have.
Of course, the media reports mostly use the term "175 passengers", and I believe that most of the passengers may remain rational, just hoping to get more detailed information. After the airline arranged accommodation, some passengers also chose to leave the scene. But in any case, the noise and irrational practices in such an incident are still regrettable. Especially in recent years, similar incidents are not uncommon. In the minds of some Chinese people, the idea of "solving a small problem, making a big problem, and not solving it" has become a stereotype. And airlines and airports often make peace in extreme events, which makes this impression confirmed again and again. This makes people feel quite sorry and helpless.
However, please note that under certain circumstances, if every Chinese can respect the contract and abide by the rules, it may be better to show the prosperity of the motherland.
Wen Yi CCTV Review Special Contributor Wang Jian
