Phoenix Airlines

[lolliftw]

Note: When referring to airlines and routes in this role-play article, it refers to in-game routes. There may also be references to IRL events, such as the Typhoon Lekima, Hong Kong protests, and others.

(Location: New York-JFK Airport, at the gate)
Mr Li waited for all the passengers to board the aircraft. Seated beside our CEO of Phoenix Airlines was Ms Lucy Barker, the Director of Operations (Europe, USA and Canada). Ms Barker is a British citizen aged 40, but had previous experience working in American airlines This was the reason why she was picked by the Board for this very important role as the Director for Operations, especially being in charge of Phoenix Airlines' most important markets, namely Europe, and America. 
For the both of them, they were travelling alone. There was also Mr Marcus Operson, the Director for Operations (Latin America), who rushed over from the nearby LaGuardia Airport after arriving into that airport from Sao Paulo at 6.50am. Mr Operson hurried walked into the holding area with his baggage, and bowed to Mr Li. "Sorry for being late, it's just that there were lots of problems with regards to arriving at an airport that is not supposed to have customs, as well as the morning peak hour traffic."
"No need to apologise. You can of course share with us your experience with that airline later on the plane. Let's go and not keep the passengers waiting for us, it will definitely look bad on us and the airline," interrupted Mr Li, as he stood up and took his baggage.

As they went to the top floor of the aircraft, which only had 4 Phoenix Suite seats, the cabin crew in charge looked at them with surprise. "Well what a surprise! I wasn't informed I would be serving 3 special guests today!" she exclaimed. "I guess we are here to spot check on our cabin service?" Mr Li joked as they took their seats. "Oh and by the way, you don't have to seat on that miserable cabin crew seat and take the last suite behind. We left it intentionally empty." The cabin crew was so surprised that she thanked the Directors for their kindness. 

The plane took off as per schedule, in the early morning, and back to New York. "We are lucky to get a seat on this 747 with the upper floor to ourselves. With the Typhoon Lekima cancelling lots of flights back home in Shanghai, we had rescheduled numerous flights to cater to our passengers and it forced my secretary and some of the other people who attended the meeting here in New York to split up and take other flights," said Mr Li. "Of course I had arranged for the 2 of you together, because we are here to discuss important issues with regards to our expansion in America, as well as for the both of you to help me gather feedback from the passengers below later," said Mr Li. "Clearly Marcus was prepared by choosing to take a flight from that rival of ours to come back to America and join us. They didn't suspect anything, did they?" 
"Why would they suspect anything? I am just an ordinary American traveller returning to America. They don't even know my home town is in Houston for that matter. My the ticket prices are sky high that I just pity the New Yorkers for having to pay for such exorbitant prices. Nevertheless the services is quite good, so probably that makes up for that," replied Mr Operson as he described his experience flying on a rival airline from Sao Paulo to New York.
"That is good, and we can adopt some of the good things of that airline. Really though, the main issue here is about our operations to America and Canada. As the both of you know the China-America route business is really huge, and we do have to discuss about the current and future plans for our flights to America. For our impending major routes press conference, we are intending to launch numerous America bound routes, including one to Indianapolis, additional frequency into New York, Phoenix and LA, and the new "Major Airport Express" connecting Beijing to Atlanta. Apart from that, Lucy also has a few routes in mind and the arrangements needs to be discussed, because the use of aircraft needs to be arranged." Ms Barker nods. "However, Marcus, I need you here because as an American, you understand the needs of your fellow Americans, and could you provide some insights into some of the suggestions?"
As Mr Operson looks through the list of proposed routes, he points at certain routes and makes comments. "Clearly this PVG-IND and CAN-IND are preemptive flights targeted at some airline," he commented. "I think the Capital Express should be served to Washington Dulles and not Baltimore? I think despite the cheap gates at Baltimore, Dulles seems like a more attractive airport with better facilities." He looked through the list, which looks quite scary if you take a look at the list here:

"Really aircraft arrangements are a headache, if you ask me I feel like there is a need to purchase the Dreamliners to help with small thin routes," said Mr Li. "But otherwise you find the routes okay?" Mr Operson nods. "Fine than Marcus, what about your Ultra-Long Route?"
"Oh I was just thinking of asking Lucy, how about a combination with a flight to Munich? I have secured an agreement to move the time slot to a better time, and use this combination of flights instead."

Ms Barker looks at the plan with interest, while Mr Li excuses himself to answer a phone call (yes with free internet on the plane for Phoenix Suites tickets you can take internet calls). "I guess its cool? I have often been accused of focusing too much on America that I forget about Europe."

Mr Li returns to the group. "Sorry for leaving, I just heard from the Chinese authorities that they are banning all Chinese airlines from ferrying passengers who participated in the Hong Kong protests, and have provided a list to us for our compliance," he said.
Ms Barker and Mr Operson stared at Mr Li. "Mr Li, why not let us move downstairs to have a chat with our fellow passengers?" said Ms Barker. With that, the three of them walked down to talk to passengers from all the different classes.

---

(Press Conference, 15th Aug 2019, at Phoenix Airlines Headquarters Conference Room, Pudong New Zone, Shanghai
The group gathered and sat down, as the invited local and foreign journalists started taking photos. The group of Airline Operations Managers publicly came together for the first time, together with Chairman Mr Zhou Litian, CEO Mr Li Ming Xiang. 
Chairman Zhou was the first to speak. “Good afternoon to all, I am Mr Zhou Litian, Chairman of the Phoenix Airlines Group. Welcome all to our biannual route launch press conference. Today, we will be sharing with you, as well as our loyal customers, updates with regards to Phoenix Airlines' route offerings as well as providing a summary of what more to expect from the airline for the next 6 months. This was previously scheduled for early August, but with the recent Typhoon Lekima, as well as other issues that cropped up, we have delayed this press conference till today."
"December 2018 was when we first started. Launching our first flights, we started operations from our base in Shanghai Pudong International Airport, as begun serving the wider Chinese public as well as tourists from overseas interested to come to China and explore what we have to offer. Phoenix Airlines is one of China's largest airlines today, having experienced a huge growth rate. We were recently listed on many Aviation Magazines as the "Fastest Growing Airline" in Asia, as well as one of the top 10 in the world. Today, we are launching more than 50 new routes to different places in Asia, Europe and America, as well as announcing various increases in capacity as we obtain more aircraft to increase our route capacity. Of course, the list we are providing today is incomplete, you can expect more updates through our press releases of certain routes, as we are in the midst of discussion with the relevant authorities. Just this morning, I have heard that we have secured an agreement with the Milan Malpensa airport authorities for 2 slots in the airport starting mid-October. This was after months of discussion and delays, due to various mitigating factors such as the temporary closure of Milan Linate airport, as well as uncertainties surrounding the Beijing Capital Airport slots when some of the airlines move to the new Daxing Airport."
"One of the most important markets we are targeting is the American market. We are currently planning for numerous new flights to USA, apart from the list you will hear later. We have plans to increase our flights from New York area to 15 daily, flying from New York to major Chinese cities including Xiamen, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Kunming, and Chongqing. Apart from that, we have also confirmed additional flights into popular destinations, including Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Boston, San Francisco, Dallas and Phoenix. We are also starting to shift our focus to the Indian aviation market, which is one of the biggest market in the world. These are future plans which you can expect from us.
"Without further ado, let us invite Mr Salami bin Yusof, Manager for Airline Operations (Middle East and Africa), who will tell us more about new flights to the area."

Mr Salami bin Yusof: "Thank you Mr Zhou. For a start, I will be talking about Phoenix Airline Operations in Middle East and Africa. This market is a rising market, given the increasing use of Middle Eastern airports such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi for transit, as well as the increasing demand for flights to Middle East. As a result, we are starting to launch flights to these major airports, and as you can see here, we are launching various flights to Dubai, Doha, Muscat, Abu Dhabi and Riydah. "

"For your information, those highlighted in yellow refer to flights that are launched with effect next Monday, while those highlighted in blue are flights that are launched in the coming weeks to come." He makes a pause. "Apart from our major routes PEK-DXB and PVG-AUH, we are also looking even further. We will also be launching flights to Kuwait, Cairo, Cape Town and Johannesburg which will be confirmed in the coming weeks. This will help to complement our current operations and reach out to a bigger customer base!"

Next came Mrs Han Seok Cheng: "Hi I am Mrs Han, the Manager of Airline Operations in charge of South and Central Asia. This is a region which our airline has particular emphasis on. With India being a fast rising market, as well as a demand for China-Central Asia flights, we have a strong emphasis on this region as we aim to reach out to this market which is relatively untouched. Our previously launched flights to Nur-sultan, Baku, etc, highlights how much Central Asia means to us. This time round, we moved towards the Indian market, and launched few routes to begin our plan to connect India and China together. Though there may not be many new flights, we are excited to announce that there will be more flights from Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Nanjing to Delhi, as well as flights from Beijing, Shenzhen, Haikou and Kunming to Mumbai that are coming your way by the end of the year. Stay tuned for more details as we iron out the flight details."


Mr Adam Bickerson, Manager of Airline Operations (Oceania and South East Asia) continued by talking about the South East Asia market. "China is proud to be a leading partner of the Association of South-East Nations. People in South East Asia often fly to China to visit our beautiful country. Businessman often fly from China to other nations in South East Asia to discuss business with their partners in South East Asia. Noting the importance of South East Asia to China, we have an added emphasis on the South East Asian market, and have started with flights to Vietnam, Myanmar, as well as the first flights to Philippines, while adjusting our Shanghai-Singapore route (highlighted in Orange). "

"Furthermore, after collecting feedback, we have seen that many people are excited about our flights to Sydney and Perth, and demand was so huge that flights all the way till end November are full! As a result, we have decided to increase our frequency with effect 26th August, adding 3 more flights to make the flight operate daily. A second frequency from Shanghai, as well as a new frequency from Guangzhou will also be coming soon in the months to come, so stay tuned to our social media platforms to find out more! In fact, all Phoenix Club members will also receive new updates as soon as we have them, so they will be first to know about the new flights! If you are interested, do sign up to be a Club member and join our Phoenix Airline family as we fly you to places that you wish to go."

Ms Lucy Barker and Mr Marcus Operson came up together. "The highlight of our press announcement today comes from our new routes and route adjustments," begun Ms Lucy Barker. "We start by looking at our future European operations. After our successes with flights to London, we have decided to continue the momentum by expanding our operations at London, as well as add flights to Paris, Frankfurt and Munich. Our Guangzhou-Helsinki flight was so well received that we chose to increase the capacity on the route, upgrading from a DC-8-73 all the way to a B747, increasing the capacity by more than 1.5 times! There are also slight time adjustments made in the process to ensure that we have flights departing the various cities around the clock. For instance, from Paris, you can take an early morning flight to Shanghai, or a late afternoon flight to Beijing."

Mr Marcus Operson continued with the announcement. "We went all out with our American operations. Looking at the North American flight list here, you can see how committed we are to the market. Apart from increasing the frequency on our Shanghai-Phoenix and Shanghai-LA flights, we strengthened our presence on the West Coast by launching flights to Seattle and San Francisco. We also aim to become the biggest foreign operator in New York, as we are launching our second daily flight to New York with our B747 aircraft. This new frequency will give passengers in the East Coast more choices with an additional choice of a 9.30am departure, together with our adjusted afternoon departure time of 4.40pm for the current flight. Beijing-New York is also on our shortlist for new flights as we are in the midst of negotiating new slots and John F. Kennedy Airport. Apart from New York, Indianapolis is also recognised as an important airport in our American expansion plans, given the sheer amount of passengers transiting through the airport due to a local airline. We start with one flight to Indianapolis from Shanghai, and will be collecting feedback before adding a new frequency."

Mr Wei Bozhi joined the two of them in front. "Being the Manager in charge of fleet and crew scheduling, long haul flights are the hardest to schedule as we have to rotate the aircraft used and ensure that the aircraft has sufficient downtime for maintenance, and also enough cabin crew to properly serve the flight. However, we remain committed to flying long and far, and this is why we have decided to launch the world's longest flight, between Guangzhou and Sao Paulo, on our new Airbus 350-900 Ultra Long Range variation. This flight will operate 4 times weekly, serving one of Brazil's biggest cities and flying the passengers to China." The announcement was met with thunderous applause, as the Chinese song "I love you China" was played in the background.

Mr Ma Xing came forward next. "Of course, with so many international flights, we need to ensure that our Chinese people have access to these flights. We have launched an entire series of flights to cater to our domestic customers, and connecting them from one place to another. Hopefully, this will allow more people to access to good and cheap flight services."


"Of course, not forgetting our fellow comrades in Hong Kong and Macau. Though this list is small, we are committed to serving our fellow comrades in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. I also leave you with list of flights to Tokyo, which will be part of our slow and steady move into Japan and Korea, serving our friends from neighbouring countries."