China Eastern review by Steph

Last minute trip booked for a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 children, 6 yrs and 2 yrs) from SH (PVG airport) to MEL (1 way) for 5/1/19, due to sudden death of my grandmother in SH. Was originally scheduled to fly back to MEL from HK but had to double back to SH and Cathay did not have any available flights to MEL til 12/1/19. Had to settle with China Eastern Airlines as they flew direct to MEL. MU739 was due to depart SH at 12:20am on 5th Jan. By the time we reached the gate, we had already been awake for 22 hours (funeral was on the morning of 4th Jan). Was advised by ground staff at gate to bring stroller onto bus and give to ground staff on tarmac to ensure it is taken on board. There was not a single soul on tarmac when the bus arrived next to the plane, either to control foot traffic or to receive my stroller. Most passengers (being Chinese) scrambled to get off the plane and crowd onto the staircase leading to the entrance of the plane, the bitter cold and wet weather did not help matters. CE Airlines has a policy of re-scanning boarding passes right before boarding the plane (to avoid abscondees?) which they decided to carry out half way up the covered staircase. This created a bottleneck situation with more than half of the bus passengers left on the tarmac exposed to the cold and rain. I had no choice but to carry the folded stroller, along with carry-on luggage and trying to hold on to my 6 yr old daughter, up the slippery and over-crowded staircase. She slipped and fell 3 times along the way. My husband was carrying our 2 year old son and was ahead of me. When I eventually got to the entrance of the plane, my arms gave way (under excess strain) and both the stroller and suitcase fell onto the floor. A flight attendant asked why I brought the stroller up and I explained angrily that there was no ground staff to receive it and that I brought it up in fear that it would have been left behind otherwise. I also criticized that the re-scanning of boarding passes half way on a staircase was a bad practice and ill-conceived. I further said that the lack of crowd control and the wet weather posed safety risks. At this point the Cabin Manager (Yong WANG) intervened and said I was being disrespectful to cabin crew who are trying to help. I said I have not received any assistance since departure gate and that CE Airlines has poorly implemented and unsafe practices. This quickly turned into an heated argument where he accused me of being rude and unappreciative while I insisted it's the company's policies that I'm criticizing. In an attempt to de-escalate the situation, I told him I wanted to get to my seat. He responded by physically blocking me and shoving me when I tried to go around him. He further demanded my passport details and boarding pass and threatened that I could not stay on the flight. I managed to move away from him eventually when two other boarding passengers directed me an alternative passage way. I found my seat and rejoined my family and explained to my husband what had happened at the entrance of the plane (being ahead of me, he did not witness the whole incident). I also obtained WANG's name and title from a helpful flight attendant at the back of the plane. I thought this was the end of the unpleasantness. I was very wrong. After about 15 minutes, a security officer approached me to say that the WANG has recommended that I be escorted off the flight, that I posed a threat to the safety of other passengers. I asked to speak with a higher ranking office who turned out to be the Captain (Jiang LI). I asked the basis for denying me carriage and he cited that I was emotionally unstable and that it was not safe for the rest of the passengers. I tried my best to explain what had happened (in rudimentary Chinese, as I left China as a small child and only possess very basic Chinese language skills). LI claimed that had I apologised to WANG before the security officer arrived, he could have overlooked the incident. And that i need to face the consequences of my behaviour (which was giving negative feedback about unsafe practices?). What's particularly memorable was a small exchange between LI and WANG, a knowing look and smile, as well as a remark by WANG that I almost attacked him (I'm a 1.6m petite asian woman, compared to WANG who is at least 1.8m and twice my build). Throughout this whole exchange, I repeated asked an interpreter which was denied by crew staff and the security office. My husband came to find me at this point and the two of us were given about 30 seconds to decide whether I would deplane by myself or my entire family of four would leave. Cabin staff also promised that there would be ground staff to assist with alternative flight and accommodation options. Worried about my well-being being left behind by myself; the fact that the two children were already unwell and whether there would be more more unpleasantness for the rest of my family if they elected to stay and most importantly, relying on their promise that there would be assistant on ground, we decided to leave the flight as a family. It was only after we arrived at the departure hall that we discovered there was no one to assist us, apart from two lowly ranked employees who brought our checked-in luggage. There was counter staff at check-in or customer service, all airline personnel had left as it was their last flight of the day. We were then told to wait by the customer service counter until 6am. I asked about accommodation and was told there was no one to arrange it. As this was a last minute trip to attend a loved one's funeral service, we did not even carry much Chinese currency on us (Currency exchange was also closed), we did not have local sim card to make phone calls or even internet access as the airport wifi is limited to local phone numbers. We were not informed there was a nearby airport hotel we could have used, but as we found the next day, there was zero vacancy anyway. We ended up being stranded at the airport from 12.30am to 6.30am, when a on-duty CE manager showed up. During those 6 hours, I carried our 2 year old the entire time while he slept and our 6 year old huddled up in the stroller to rest. We were completely helpless and near the point of collapse as we had been awake for 24 hours by then. I pleaded to be transferred to a different airline on account of the horrific experience, which was denied. I was in tears when I asked for temporary hotel accommodation as the next available flight was more than 12 hours away (7.45pm on 5th Jan), or even an empty office to rest in, which was also rejected. I used the customer service counter's desk phone to call customer service but all they could offer was to establish a case but had no power to arrange for anything. We ended up taking a taxi back to a relative's residence to get some privacy and rest before making our way back to PVG for the 7.45pm flight, which thankfully got us back to Melbourne. My children suffered high fevers for two day after our return due to the exposure they suffered on the tarmac and at the airport. My husband and I missed two days of work due to the physical toll of this ordeal and having to care for the two sick children. Since this incident, I have followed up on average twice a day with the Shanghai based customer service, I also contacted the Sydney office (as the Melbourne office never picks up calls). I sent two lengthy emails with photos attached as proof for the traumatizing experience. To date, all I have received are broken promises (to call within 24/48 hours), hand-balling of my complaint (to ground staff team) and poor English speakers who struggle to communicate and understand (surely, it's unreasonable to expect all of their passengers to be native Chinese speakers?!). I am now pursuing legal action against CE Airlines. China Eastern Airlines are single-handedly responsible for the most traumatizing and humiliating experience of my life. If you value your consumer's rights, safety and most of your dignity as a human being, do not travel with them and warn everyone you know not to travel with them.