UPS AND DOWNS: After Far Eastern Air announced on Thursday that it was ceasing operations, its chairman said they would restart, drawing a backlash from critics
Taipei Times
Date: Dec: 14, 2019
By: Lo chi, Chien Hui-ju and Dennis Xie / Staff reporters, with staff writer
Chung Hua Premium Tourism Development Association chairman Lee Chi-yueh (李奇嶽) yesterday
From left, Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union secretary-general Cheng Ya-ling, Far Eastern Air Transport Union Consultant Lin Yun, Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union board directors Lin Hsin-yi, Chu Liang-chun, and Su Ying-jung raise their fists during a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: CNA
The call came after the Thursday announcement by Far Eastern Air Transport Corp (FAT) that it would end all flight operations starting yesterday, due to financial difficulties, although yesterday, FAT chairman Chang Kang-wei (張綱維) said that promised funding would allow the airline to restart operations.
The CAA is not listening to the rising demand for a surety system and its inaction was a dereliction of duty, Lee said, adding that the airline has not learned any lessons from previous cases, such as the dissolution of TransAsia Airways, EVA and China Airlines strikes, and now the abrupt flight suspensions from FAT.
“Why would consumers ever want to fly with an airline that announces flight suspensions one minute and in the next says they will restart?” Taiwan Aviation Education Development Association chairman Wang Cheng-kuang (王正光) said, adding that the incident is a blow to FAT’s reputation.
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