??? Helen Deng ????THE flight made on March 27, 1992 was the shortest in the career of China Southern Airlines pilot Wang Jianmin. The aircraft took off in Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and 20 minutes later, it arrived at Shenzhen Huangtian International Airport (now called Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport). ????Wang Jianmin and his coworkers flew more than 10 aircrafts to Shenzhen that day to land the first planes in the city. The next day, China Southern Airlines Shenzhen Branch was established, and Wang became one of its first employees. ?????A senior pilot ????Wang has been flying planes since he graduated from pilot school in 1980. China civil aviation was in its infancy at the time and most planes were manufactured in the Soviet Union in the 1940s and 1950s. “It took at least a day to fly from Guangzhou to Beijing, because the plane had to stop over in Changsha, Wuhan and Zhengzhou to refuel,” Wang recalled. His first experience of flying a Boeing 737 came in 1985. ????In the 1980s, Shenzhen was a remote place. There was no expressway linking it with Guangzhou, and the provincial capital was a six-hour drive away. There was no airport in Shenzhen. To reach Shenzhen, people had to fly to Guangzhou then take a train or coach. “Many passengers said: ‘I wish I could fly to Shenzhen directly!’” recalled Wang. ????The good news was Shenzhen was building an airport. It was the first civil airport built by a local government and caused a considerable stir in the civil aviation industry. The airport was completed in October 1991. China Southern Airlines sent 19 pilots to Shenzhen, and Wang was one of them. His wife, Wang Changmin, an air hostess, also came to Shenzhen. ????“There were not enough dormitories. My wife had to share a room with other air hostesses, and I had to stay with other pilots. It was a hard time, but nobody complained,” Wang said.????? ????Maiden flight ????At 8:30 a.m., Nov. 25, 1991, a Boeing 757 flown by Wang took off from Shenzhen airport. It was the first civil plane to take off from Shenzhen. Zhu Yuening, the vice mayor then, saw the plane off at the airport and said excitedly: “Shenzhen’s distance from other cities has been shortened!” ????On March 27, Wang Jianmin and his coworkers flew more than 10 planes of China Southern Airlines to Shenzhen and the next day, China Southern Airlines Shenzhen Branch of was established. ????“There was much skepticism about Shenzhen airport. Many people thought that it would not have much traffic, because it was squeezed between Guangzhou airport and Hong Kong International Airport,” he said. ????The highway between the airport and downtown Shenzhen was still under construction. “Our dormitory in Nantou, Nanshan District, was only 17 kilometers away from the airport. We used to spend several hours on the road,” he said. He once took a company coach to Nantou on a rainy day. Before he could return home, his coworker, who set off for Beijing at the same time, had already arrived. ????But Shenzhen International Airport proved its doubters wrong. At the beginning, the seat occupancy rate was lower than 40 percent. But soon, most flights were fully booked. ????In 2002, Wang became the manager of the flight department of China Southern Airlines Shenzhen Branch. In 2006, he won the title of “Best Pilot” of China Southern Airlines. In 2009, Wang was promoted to the position of vice general manager of China Southern Airlines Shenzhen Branch.????? ????Family in the air ????All members of Wang’s family work in the aviation industry. While his wife Wang Changmin, a former airhostess, retired in 2005, their daughter Wang Xiaoke became an airhostess the same year. The family had little time together. ????“On the eve of the Lunar New Year of 2002, my wife and I had to fly back to Shenzhen from different cities. Upon returning to Shenzhen, we rushed home and managed to get together before midnight,” he said. ????Yet Wang enjoys his job. As he had to spend more time on management and training after becoming vice general manager, he had to cut his flight hours by half to 40 hours. “I try to fly more… I love to fly,” he said. | 