China Airlines (CAL,
Lee Yun-ling (
The appointments were made following China Aviation Development Foundation's (CADF, 中華航空事業發展基金會) announcement on Tuesday that a reshuffle would be made. The CADF owns 71 percent of CAL.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES.
Voicing opposition to CAL's new management and policies, employees of the state-run airlines yesterday chanted slogans as the old and new corporate brass walked outside to announce the changes.
Chanting "we oppose industry outsiders leading industry professionals" and "we oppose non-transparent management procedures," dozens of CAL employees crowded the lobby of the company's headquarters.
Lee, the new chairman of the board, was a former air force pilot and 23-year veteran of CAL. He joined the company in 1970 as a co-pilot and worked his way up to chief of the flight training center before being transferred to CAL's Far Eastern subsidiary in 1993.
Tsung, 52, has an MBA from the University of Missouri and a 13-year career in the US, including work as the finance director of Powey City near San Diego, California.
Tsung denied media speculation that her nomination -- while lacking any solid aviation industry experience -- was the result of her political affiliation with leaders of the ruling DPP. She defended her qualifications by saying that the "CADF choose me for my solid management and experience in finance."
Commenting at a press conference after the announcement, both of the new leaders addressed the issue on everyone's mind -- safety. CAL has been dogged by safety issues, including an Airbus A300 crash at Taiwan's main international airport two years ago that killed all 203 people on board.
Last August, three people were killed when a China Airlines MD-11 jet flipped upside down and burst into flames at Hong Kong's international airport while attempting to land during a tropical storm.
"I will propose concrete management strategies and measures for improving CAL's safety record one month after I assume this post," Lee said.
Meanwhile, Tsung vowed to "improve the company's unsatisfactory safety record" and make the company an "internationally recognized carrier."
Recent efforts to improve the flight safety standards of the company have included hiring Germany's Lufthansa Technik AG -- a subsidiary of Lufthansa German Airlines -- to train its pilots and engineers in higher safety standards.
Meanwhile, outgoing president, Sandy K.Y. Liu (劉克涯), was appointed chairman of Taiwan Aircargo Terminal Ltd (華儲股份有限公司), a subsidiary of CAL. Former chairman Chiang Hung-I (蔣洪彝) is slated to remain a member of the board, according to company officials.
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump weighed in on a pressing national issue: The rebranding of a restaurant chain. Last week, Cracker Barrel, a Tennessee company whose nationwide locations lean heavily on a cozy, old-timey aesthetic — “rocking chairs on the porch, a warm fire in the hearth, peg games on the table” — announced it was updating its logo. Uncle Herschel, the man who once appeared next to the letters with a barrel, was gone. It sparked ire on the right, with Donald Trump Jr leading a charge against the rebranding: “WTF is wrong with Cracker Barrel?!” Later, Trump Sr weighed
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) secured a record 70.2 percent share of the global foundry business in the second quarter, up from 67.6 percent the previous quarter, and continued widening its lead over second-placed Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said on Monday. TSMC posted US$30.24 billion in sales in the April-to-June period, up 18.5 percent from the previous quarter, driven by major smartphone customers entering their ramp-up cycle and robust demand for artificial intelligence chips, laptops and PCs, which boosted wafer shipments and average selling prices, TrendForce said in a report. Samsung’s sales also grew in the second quarter, up
HEADWINDS: Upfront investment is unavoidable in the merger, but cost savings would materialize over time, TS Financial Holding Co president Welch Lin said TS Financial Holding Co (台新新光金控) said it would take about two years before the benefits of its merger with Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控) become evident, as the group prioritizes the consolidation of its major subsidiaries. “The group’s priority is to complete the consolidation of different subsidiaries,” Welch Lin (林維俊), president of the nation’s fourth-largest financial conglomerate by assets, told reporters during its first earnings briefing since the merger took effect on July 24. The asset management units are scheduled to merge in November, followed by life insurance in January next year and securities operations in April, Lin said. Banking integration,
LOOPHOLES: The move is to end a break that was aiding foreign producers without any similar benefit for US manufacturers, the US Department of Commerce said US President Donald Trump’s administration would make it harder for Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc to ship critical equipment to their chipmaking operations in China, dealing a potential blow to the companies’ production in the world’s largest semiconductor market. The US Department of Commerce in a notice published on Friday said that it was revoking waivers for Samsung and SK Hynix to use US technologies in their Chinese operations. The companies had been operating in China under regulations that allow them to import chipmaking equipment without applying for a new license each time. The move would revise what is known
RSS