Consumers' hopes for gaining access timely information about an aircraft's age and the pilot's experience before getting on a plane fizzled yesterday.
"With last-minute changes happening all the time, it would be difficult to provide the public with accurate aircraft and pilot information," said Chang Chin-tien (張金田), a director at the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
The issue was raised by the Consumers' Foundation (
An outraged public turned to the foundation, which then demanded that air carriers post the age, make and model of aircrafts, as well as pilot experience, on the Internet.
But the CAA instead offered a watered-down plan to make available only the age, make and model of planes in Airline Timetables available at airport counters.
In addition, the new policy only applies to domestic flights.
"We hope to put this requirement into effect as early as December this year," Chang added.
The foundation's head said he was far from satisfied with the government's plan.
Still in the dark
"The information they will disclose is too limited ... there is definitely a lot of other things consumers need to be informed about," said Yu Ming-kuo (
He stressed that the public has a right to know the details of the planes airlines are using for passenger travel.
Printed materials at the airport can't be really helpful, Yu said. He said that the Internet could serve as a real-time venue for data, allowing carriers to provide timely information.
"The government should be more active in regulating airlines, especially when most consumers are disappointed in the safety records of domestic carriers," Yu said.
In response, one airline official said flight safety and the availability of plane and pilot info are not what's needed.
"We believe an emphasis on pilot training and aircraft maintenance is what's really needed to upgrade flight safety," China Airlines spokesman Roger Han (韓梁中) told the Taipei Times yesterday.
No country in the world has ever made pilot information public, he said, adding that if the government requires all air companies to do so, it will result in major headaches for foreign carriers.
In addition, if passengers select flights based on the experience of pilots only, airlines would be hard pressed to hire new pilots and demand for senior pilots would soar.
"We can understand why consumers want to have more flight information -- but from an operational point of view its just not feasible," Han said.
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