Bradley Perrett covered China, Japan, South Korea and Australia. He is a Mandarin-speaking Australian.
Before joining Aviation Week in 2006 he was a macroeconomics, politics and aerospace journalist with Reuters. Perrett holds a bachelor’s degree in law from Macquarie University, Sydney. He left Aviation Week in 2020.
China Eastern Airlines has suspended two regional managers and an undisclosed number of pilots after 21 flights returned to their origin airports last week as part of a contract dispute. While the pilots have obviously been suspended because of their disruptive action in support of a better work contract, it isn’t clear why the two chiefs of China Eastern’s Yunnan provincial branch have also been forced to step aside. China Eastern says there were weaknesses in the management.
China has toughened aviation security measures by banning lighters and matches from domestic flights. Liquids were banned last month after media reported an attempt to start a gasoline fire on an aircraft. The new rule took effect on Monday.
Pilots at three Chinese airlines have taken the risky step of disguised labor action in a battle with their employers for better contracts, just as political violence is making the authorities extremely sensitive about social unrest. Pilots of 18 flights of China Eastern’s Yunnan provincial subsidiary turned back last week after taking off, returning to their departure airports on doubtful claims of bad weather.
