Chartered Airplane Sent to Thailand to Bring Home Stranded Chinese
By Yuan Shenggao, China Daily | Mar. 27, 2020
At midnight on Jan 31, all China Southern Airlines crew members received a message asking for volunteers to form a special crew for a charter flight to the island of Phuket in Thailand to pick up Chinese citizens.
All 89 stranded passengers, including three babies, were picked up the next day. They were from Wuhan, the Chinese city hardest-hit by COVID-19.
Tian Jing, chief purser of the airline, applied to join the team the second she saw the message.
"I was born in Wuhan. It's a pity not to be able to help in my hometown, but at least I want to do something for them," she said.
Tian has 26 years of experience as a crew member, and has worked on charter flights to dangerous regions in peacekeeping missions on more than 10 occasions. She has been awarded for her contributions and is regarded a role model among her colleagues.
At 7 am, Tian was nominated as purser of the flight. She then called the other four team members, out of 421 candidates, and briefed them on the service and safety requirements. After that, she spoke to her family.
"I worried they may not agree with my decision, but my husband gave me full support," she said. Tian's husband, also an airline employee, was quarantined after serving on a flight to Wuhan.
The team members followed the guidance from the National Health Commission in preparation. Tian decorated the cabin with national flags, to remind passengers that they were being looked out for by their country.
At 4:49 pm, the flight arrived in Phuket. Standing at the cabin door, Tian saw the passengers. "Welcome boarding! Welcome Home!" she said in the Wuhan dialect. Hearing this, many passengers were moved.
A woman said: "Many people burst into tears after learning the country was going to send an airplane to take us back. Thank you!"
When the airplane reached Wuhan after five hours, Tian broadcast: "Dear passengers, we are now home!" There was a big applause.
She said she felt a sense of fulfillment after seeing the last passenger off.
However, she added: "I haven't seen my parents for half a year. When the epidemic ends, I want to eat a bowl of hot dry noodles and see them in Wuhan."