Ignoring ATC Earns Juneyao 90-Day Capacity Cuts

The Chinese government has come down hard on privately-held Juneyao Airlines after the South Korean pilot of one the carrier's planes refused to obey controllers and yield a landing slot to a Qatar Airways flight which was low on fuel.

On August 13, weather delays had a reported 20 aircraft circling Shanghai Pudong International Airport, when the pilot of Qatar Airways Flight 888, a Boeing 777-300, called mayday, saying he was running low on fuel. He was granted permission to land at the city's smaller airport, Hongqiao International, but when a controller ordered Juneyao Flight 1112, an Airbus A320, to yield its landing slot, the pilot refused six orders in a seven-minute period, saying she, too, was low on fuel.

Both planes got down safely. English Eastday reports an investigation showed the Juneyao A320 had 42 minutes of fuel remaining, while the Qatar Airways 777 had just 18 minutes to go.

Juneyao's South Korean pilot, identified by several news websites as Choi Eunjung, has been banned for life from flying in China, and her unidentified co-pilot's pilot privileges have been suspended in China for six months. Juneyao has apologized to the Chinese government, and says it will fire the captain.

Juneyao has been ordered to cut its capacity 10 percent for three months, educate all its foreign pilots for at least 40 hours on the rules of Chinese civil aviation with the administration evaluating the results, and will be denied permission to expand, open new offices or rent or buy any new aircraft.

A statement from Juneyao says, "The company accepts and will strictly carry out all the penalties from the aviation authority."

If the punishment sounds a little over-the-top for the actions of one captain, keep in mind that Juneyao is a small private company undercutting the fares of major carriers such as Air China Ltd., China Southern Airlines Co. and China Eastern Airlines Corp., all of which happen to be owned by the government.

FMI: www.juneyao.com/English/business/jixiang.htm