The head of United Airlines in Taiwan said yesterday that passengers are beginning to return to their normal travel habits, triggering a rebound for the US carrier since late last month.
"We have been gradually getting back to business as usual," said Andrea Wu (
"Our passenger load rate in November was just a few points below the same period last year."
However, with the airline industry as a whole reported a significant drop in seat occupancy since the Sept. 11 attacks, the company also saw its share of tough times.
"There is no denying there was a significant slide after September ? compared with last year, we saw a more than 15 percent drop in our average [passenger] load factor [on the San Francisco route] in September and October."
United is currently the only US carrier still scheduling daily non-stop flights to the US -- from Taipei to San Francisco -- while Northwest Airlines offers a daily flight from Taipei to Tokyo and then on to the US.
After the US attacks, United was quick to adjust flights and personnel.
"Our business was under extreme pressure so we had to move quickly to adjust to the sudden change of business and consolidate our capacity, workforce and route network," Wu said.
New challenges have forced United to take on new strategies.
"We are taking measures on all fronts, however, to restore business and the confidence of the travelling public. [We are offering] major fare incentives," Wu said.
In addition, members of the airlines frequent flyer program will benefit from a "buy one [ticket] get one free" promotion on travel between January this year and March next year.
An executive from a local airline said the industry-wide downturn may be a good opportunity to lure customers away from US carriers that ply Taiwan routes.
Christine Tsung (宗才怡), president of China Airlines, said in a recent interview that the public may still hesitate to fly with US carriers.
But the head of United Airlines Taiwan said the facts show that that is simply not true.
"No, this is not what we have learned from our customers," Wu said.
"Our market share of more than 50 percent on the Taipei-San Francisco route has not changed. It has taken a short while for travelers to restart their travel plans after September, but once they were back, United was still their airline of choice to go to the US."
Another sign that business is bouncing back is the heavy holiday bookings at United -- a time when many Taiwanese chose to travel and large numbers of expatriates head home.
"Bookings for the Christmas season are encouraging and we are convinced business is coming back," she said.
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