EVA management decides to bite the bullet with pay cuts

Nieh Kuo-wei (聶國偉), a spokesman from EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), yesterday confirmed media reports that the air carrier plans to reduce salaries by 10 percent to 30 percent next year.

"It's a two-tier scheme, with flight attendants and low-level staff subject to a 10-percent reduction. Managers are facing 15 percent to 30 percent cuts," Nieh said.

The carrier has planned the salary cuts for about two months and initial responses from employees were generally positive, he said.

"The duration of the cuts hasn't been decided and will depend on business performance," Nieh said.

The carrier may also continue workforce reductions into next year, he said. The airline has 4,300 employees. Nieh declined to say how many jobs the company has cut this year.

The salary reduction plan will take effective on Jan. 1 -- the same day Kitty Yen (嚴若琪) is set to become EVA's new president. The airline revealed last week that it will replace Daniel Wu (吳景明), who has served as EVA's president since the company's last reshuffle in April.

Hit hard by a global slowdown in the industry, EVA downgraded its profit target for the year for the second time in September to a net loss of NT$3.2 billion (US$91.65 million), sharply lower from an earlier forecast of NT$1.49 billion.