SPECIAL REPORT: The Kunming Airport Incident

Here's the lowdown on what happened at the airport in Kunming over the course of the 11 hours I spent there. It was stunning.

6:30 PM – We arrive in Kunming. Since we're using the same plane to get to Beijing, we're told we'll only be there for 30 minutes while the plane is refueled. For some reason, they won't let us stay on the plane and we have to take off our bags.

7:00 PM – They announce that due to "technical" difficulties, our flight has been delayed until 9:30.

9:30 PM – The shuttle bus pulls up to take us to the plane. Our group of around 20 Americans gets on, then turns around to discover that none of the Chinese passengers are getting on. It turns out that there are rumors that our flight wasn't actually delayed for "technical" reasons, but rather the plane was chartered to someone else for a quick flight so someone could make a little extra money, resulting in us being bumped to a later time. The Chinese passengers are going on strike and refusing to get on the plane in protest. Our group continues to the plane, figuring that we'll just have the whole plane to ourselves. Upon arriving at the plane, we are told that negotiations are being held back at the terminal with the other passengers, but that the plane will take off in 30 minutes. We sit in first class and relax. Some of us get beer. We secretly hope that the other passengers keep protesting so we can stay in first class and fly like kings for once.



10:00 PM – Tempers are starting to flare. We want to leave. A van drives up outside, and I watch as a few students go to check it out. Suddenly, there is a huge cheer. I think they were just told that no other passengers will be coming, and we're going to take off now. Turns out they were just delivering another two cases of beer to keep us happy. It worked.


10:30 PM – We still haven't taken off. People are very angry. I pull out my camera and start filming. Out on the tarmac, a group of students and our teacher are arguing with airline personnel, trying to figure out what the situation is. We are told that we'll take off within 30 minutes. We say, "That's what you said an hour ago! We want to leave NOW, or we'll go back to the terminal and join in the protest, and be the loudest ones there!" They consult with officials back at the terminal. Then they tell us that we will be compensated 300 rmb (about $40) for the trouble, and that we should just get back on the plane and calm down. Negotiations are close to over, the other passengers are getting the same deal, and they'll be here shortly. We don't believe they're telling us the truth. We decide to send a small group of us back to the terminal to see what's REALLY going on. Three students and our IES translator/staff member are chosen to go, and I get to tag along since I'm filming this whole ordeal, which could be an important factor in the negotiations.


11:00 PM – The five of us get back to the terminal. The Chinese passengers cheer when they see us. Most of them are lounging around – they're not going anywhere. Negotiations aren't anywhere close to being finished. A small committee has been formed to talk with airline management. When we get there, we discover that contrary to what we were told, they haven't been offered any money yet – that was
a lie. They are in the middle of getting one manager to sign a letter of apology. However, this is not enough. They want a documented confession that our plane was chartered and that they lied to us about it. They also want some form of financial compensation (different people want different amounts, ranging from 300-5000 rmb). The manager insists that our plane was just delayed for technical reasons. The leader of the committee responds, "Show us the paperwork to prove it!" The manager says that he doesn't have the authority to do that, but it's obvious that he does, if such paperwork does in fact exist. We make sure he understands that I have been filming this whole thing, and we have his officials lying to our group on tape. He and some other suits go away for a short time to consult in private.

In the meantime, we talk to a few of the leaders of the passenger negotiating committee, some of whom speak English. It soon becomes very clear that we Americans are just a small factor in this. The Chinese people have organized their own committee and appointed a few leaders. They know what they want, and they don't really need our group to get it. Still, we're just happy to be able to sit back and watch this whole thing.


12:00 AM – The same manager returns. As soon as he enters, all the passengers start screaming that we don't want to talk to him, we want to talk to his boss. He says he can't get in touch with the airline headquarters in Shanghai, since it has closed. On later discussion with other passengers, we conclude that this has to be a lie – there has to be SOMEONE he can call in and wake up about this. After all, what if a plane crashes? They have to be able to contact someone. We speculate that this guy probably chartered the plane without consulting with his superiors in Shanghai – he doesn't want to tell them what's going on because he doesn't want to get fired.

12:30 AM – He comes back out with a wad of cash. Airline police follow him – they look pretty amused about this whole situation. They seem to be thinking, "Wow, this guy really screwed up and all these people won't let him off the hook." However, it becomes clear that the Chinese passengers really don't like the police being there. My friends and I wonder why – perhaps memories of what happened in 1989? Who knows. Anyways, the manager offers everyone 300 rmb compensation to just get on the plane. This doesn't go over well. One passenger tells us [paraphrased]: "It's not about the money. It doesn't matter how much they offer, we could give it all to charity for all we care. We want them to provide a written confession that they chartered our plane and then lied about it. If we take the money and leave, they can spin this story any way they want and get away with corruption."

1:00 AM – He comes back out and now offers 400 rmb (around $52) to each passenger. About 6 people want to accept the offer and go home. The vast majority of us do not. We know that this plane has to be in Beijing by 7-8:00 in order to stay on schedule. If we stick to our guns, they'll have to cave and give us what we want.

1:00-4:00 AM – Nothing happens. We sleep in the terminal.

4:00 AM – Our translator/IES staff member Karen Wu (who this whole time has been totally awesome, helping us negotiate with management) has managed to get the five of us a shuttle back to the plane. We take it back. Our classmates are sleeping after a few hours of hard partying (getting drunk with the ground crew, climbing into the baggage compartments, taking strange pictures in front of the plane, etc.). I try to go back to sleep.


5:00 AM – Airline officials come on board and start handing each of us 800 rmb (around $112). It looks as though negotiations have finally worked out.

5:15 AM – Airline officials give us all another 1200 rmb (around $160), for a grand total of 2000 rmb. That's enough to cover all of the souvenirs and gifts I bought over 2 weeks in Yunnan.


6:00 AM – We take off. Finally.

Upon arrival in Beijing I talk to some of the other passengers and learn that they were in fact able to get a confession of guilt. One person tells us that he doesn't intend to just let it go at that though, and might take legal action. He exchanged contact info with Karen. He says he might want a copy of my footage to use as evidence of the corruption and deceit. If he ever does contact us, I have no problem giving him a copy as long as I retain full rights to the footage. I've also heard that a local newspaper might wish to purchase the footage from me, but I have yet to be contacted by anyone. Karen was contacted over the weekend by several journalists
just to confirm that the story was true, and I heard it was mentioned on the radio. We'll see what happens.

And basically, that was what happened at the airport in Kunming. It was quite unlike anything I've ever experienced, and everyone else I've talked to has said they can't recall anything like this ever happening. A few of the passengers told me that they had heard of similar things happening in the past, but the passengers always ignored it or were bought off. This is the first time over 100 passengers all united and refused to get on an airplane. Honestly, it was kinda inspiring to see the Chinese locals standing up and coming together to fight for their rights and not letting corruption slide. That airline manager messed with the wrong people, and is probably in a heap of trouble. If I didn't have it on film, I would probably forget how complicated it all was and all of the emotions that were running through it. Looking back, it's hard to believe I was even there, let alone a minor part of it. Now I know what the Chinese government has to be so strict – if the Chinese people ever find something to fight for and are able to unite, they will be unstoppable.

I have already interviewed one person about what happened, and intend to interview a few more. I will be using the footage to make a short documentary about the event. Now I have 3 film projects lined up: a short video promoting studying abroad in Asia, a general documentary about my experience in China, and now this. It's interesting how it worked out. I had been kind of disappointed that I had been unable to find a specific issue to explore in-depth for my documentary. The day before we left, I was planning on interviewing two people for my general documentary about China, but ended up not being able to do them. As a result, I had enough blank tape to get around 45 minutes worth of solid footage at the airport. Lucky me! It's going to be fun to interview people and elaborate on some of the cultural/social/political themes running through the story. Should make for an interesting film.

Let me know what you all think about what happened. Until next time…