A photo of two flight
attendants praying for their plane to take off on time has gone viral
online, after recently published reports revealed the extent of China’s
notorious flight delays.
In a photo widely circulated online, two
flight attendants were seen in an airplane cabin kneeling in front of a
food trolley that appeared to be arranged as an makeshift altar. A
poster with the words “be on time” written on it was placed on the
trolley, surrounded by food and fruit.
It is traditional in
Chinese culture to pray for good fortune to gods or ancestors in front
of altars, with food and lit incense sticks as offerings, at home or in
temples.
The post came after a recent survey by a US-based
airport statistics tracker found that Beijing and Shanghai airports had
the worst records for on-time departures and arrivals among dozens of
major international airports. Last Tuesday alone, 233 flights were
cancelled at Beijing Capital International Airport and 1,126 flights
were delayed by more than four hours, according to the tracker.
The photo of the praying flight attendants hit a chord with Chinese internet users with many expressing sympathy.
“Even flight attendants want to get off from work earlier,” one internet user commented on microblog, Sina Weibo.
“Understandable, flight delays are truly annoying,” said another blogger.
The
two flight attendants in the picture appear to be wearing uniforms of
Xiamen Airlines, a regional carrier partially owned by China Southern
Arilines. Officials at Xiamen Airlines declined to comment on the
authenticity of the picture, but said it was not a violation of company
regulation for flight attendants to pray in flights, reported Haixi
Morning News, a newspaper based in Xiamen.
The paper also said
that Xiamen flight attendants are not alone in seeking help from a
higher power to improve their on-time records. Smartly-dressed crew
members from several other carriers, including China Eastern Airlines,
have also been photographed in recent years bowing in front of makeshift
"on-time" altars, sometimes made of juice or food boxes.
Story and Photo: http://www.scmp.com
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