The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) yesterday said that it has asked two domestic carriers to offer additional flights to Kinmen and Penghu after Far Eastern Air Transport (FAT, 遠東航空) announced that it is to cease operations today.
There are 500 passengers stranded overseas, the CAA added.
FAT yesterday morning said that its Web site was temporarily shut down for maintenance, which was what happened on Nov. 23, 2016, the day TransAsia Airways terminated its operations.
Photo: CNA
“Due to financial losses and difficulties in securing funds for operations, we would stop all aviation services starting Dec. 13,” FAT wrote in a statement yesterday.
“Severance pay for our employees would be calculated until Dec. 13, except those who are to stay at the company to handle the aftermath,” it said. “The human resources department would send employment certificates and documents to cancel employees’ National Health Insurance and labor insurance so they can apply for unemployment compensation.”
At a news conference at CAA headquarters in Taipei yesterday, FAT vice presidents Huang Yu-chi (黃育祺) and Lu Chi-rong (盧紀融) bowed and apologized to the public for any inconvenience.
FAT has a funding gap of about NT$30 million (US$986,647), Huang said.
“Since 2011, people have seen how hard FAT chairman Chang Kang-wei (張綱維) has worked to fund the airline’s operations,” Huang said. “Despite the losses, Chang still hoped to move the company forward and it is a pity that it has to shut down because of funding problems.”
Huang said that even top officials, including himself, had not known until yesterday morning that the company had failed to make mortgage payments.
There had been attempts to contact Chang all morning, but to no avail, he said.
“This is too sudden,” Huang said. “The company has 1,008 employees. We would try to protect employees.”
Asked when he had last seen Chang, Huang said that the chairman’s secretary reported he was in his office on Wednesday morning.
However, Huang himself had not seen him for three weeks, he added.
Although the airline had only temporarily suspended operations and would try to resume operations today, the CAA said that it would not allow FAT to offer flights given its financial problems.
During the news conference, Chang sent a message via the Line messaging app, saying that he was sorry for what happened.
Despite investing more than NT$900 million in the airline, its financial losses deepened due to a decline in cross-strait flights and his misguided trust in false promises by four Chinese con men, Chang said.
They lied about wanting to invest in the firm and charged him high processing fees, he said, adding that the police should investigate.
CAA Deputy Director Fang Chih-wen (方志文) said that the agency has been closely monitoring FAT’s operations since July 2017, particularly its cash flow.
It reminded the airline that it needed sufficient funds to make short-term mortgage payments, Fang said.
The CAA formed an emergency response team at 8am yesterday and asked the company’s management to explain the situation, he said.
FAT has NT$267 million in a consumer protection trust fund, including NT$150 million in cash and NT$117 million in checks, which would be used to refund passengers who have unused tickets, he said.
The unexpected announcement has left 500 people stranded overseas, with 169 passengers in China and 331 elsewhere, Fang said.
The CAA has coordinated with Uni Air (立榮航空) and Mandarin Airlines (華信航空) to offer 16 additional flights to Kinmen and Penghu counties today, he said, adding that they would have adequate capacity to transport people ahead of the Jan. 11 elections and the Lunar New Year holiday at the end of next month.
Founded in 1957, FAT was the nation’s first civil carrier and offered mainly domestic flights. It encountered financial concerns and temporarily suspended operations in 2008, when it was unable to pay aviation fuel charges and aircraft landing fees.
In April 2009, the Taipei District Court approved a company plan to restructure its finances.
Chang took ownership of the airline in October that year and it resumed flights on April 18, 2011.
In May, Chang told a news conference that the airline canceled 31 international flights because the CAA imposed flight hour restrictions on it.
The company was operating normally and had no funding problems, he said at the time.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
AMENDMENT: Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of high-temperature days, affecting economic productivity and public health, experts said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) is considering amending the Meteorological Act (氣象法) to classify “high temperatures” as “hazardous weather,” providing a legal basis for work or school closures due to extreme heat. CWA Administrator Lu Kuo-chen (呂國臣) yesterday said the agency plans to submit the proposed amendments to the Executive Yuan for review in the fourth quarter this year. The CWA has been monitoring high-temperature trends for an extended period, and the agency contributes scientific data to the recently established High Temperature Response Alliance led by the Ministry of Environment, Lu said. The data include temperature, humidity, radiation intensity and ambient wind,
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
RSS