32 BEIJING REVIEW MARCH 26, 2020 http://www.bjreview.com
BUSINESS
A
t dawn on March 17, Jiang Jia tenderly
kissed her sleeping son goodbye and
headed out the door Tuietly. She was
ß ying out from southeast China on a special
mission to Wuhan in Hubei Province in cen-
tral China and wouldn’t see him again for 14
days at least.
The day before, a leading group of
China’s novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
response announced a phased withdrawal of
medical workers from Hubei, a sign that the
epidemic had been brought under control in
the hardest-hit region.
As the crew chief of MF8765, a charter
ß ight of Xiamen Airlines, Jiang’s mission was
to escort 138 doctors and nurses in Wuhan
back to their home city Tianjin near Beijing.
The 1 p.m. ß ight on March 17 was the Ķ rst of
the 21 charter ß ights taking off from Hubei
with the same mission. The day ended with
3,738 medical workers from all over China,
who were sent to Hubei to assist the local
doctors, finally returning home. They were
the Ķ rst 49 medical teams to do so.
Jiang and her team considered it an hon-
or to witness the memorable moment. “We
sent batches of medical workers to Wuhan
during the outbreak and told them we would
take them home when the epidemic ended,”
she said. “Finally, that day arrived.”
Aerial artery
While medical personnel played a frontline
role in bringing the outbreak under control,
people like Jiang were also an essential part
of the efforts. They ensured the smooth
operation of civil aviation, an indispensable
aerial artery for both epidemic control and
resumption of work by companies.
According to the Civil Aviation
Administration of China (CAAC), as of March 16,
more than 26,900 ß ights had been run to trans-
port over 34,000 tons of epidemic prevention
and control supplies, and 428 flight missions
had been organized to transport 37,700 pas-
sengers, including 33,800 medical workers.
They also brought back home more than 2,400
tourists from Hubei who had been stranded
overseas.
The sector has played a considerablerole in the resumption of production as well.
Gong Tiancai, an employee with the China
Construction Fourth Engineering Division
Corp., ß ew back to work in the coastal city of
Xiamen in the southeast from Guiyang in the
southwest.
“We did not have to pay for the ticket,”
he told China Central Television. The flight,
booked by the Xiamen Federation of Trade
Union, carried 172 passengers who work for
different companies in Xiamen back to their
workplaces.
“The flight [Gong took] was paid for by
both the government and the companies,”
Chen Rong, a marketing committee official
at Xiamen Airlines, said.
By February 21, 20 airlines were running
charter flight services to assist companies
recommence work. The fare they charged
was at cost, or one third of the normal price.A bleak winter
While the industry has been one of the big-
gest contributors to anti-epidemic efforts, it
is also among the biggest sufferers.
“The epidemic has increased our difĶ cul-
ties. Flights have to be adjusted freTuently,Braced for
Headwinds
Aviation industry graSSles with novel
coronavirus fallout By Zhang Shasha