Far Eastern Air Transport (FAT) must properly handle refunds of flight tickets and ensure that people affected by 31 flight cancelations last week are able to travel or it would face a fine of NT$600,000 to NT$3 million (US$19,171 to US$95,856), the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said yesterday.
The agency issued a statement after the airline on Saturday abruptly canceled planned departures from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Da Nang, Vietnam; Boracay and Palawan Island in the Philippines; Niigata and Fukushima prefectures in Japan; Jeju Island, South Korea; and from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to China’s Taiyuan and Tianjin.
It was not the first time that FAT had canceled flights without notification, the CAA said, adding that it would review the airline’s flight schedule.
The CAA said that following the announcement of cancelations of flights to Da Nang, Boracay and Palawan, it asked the airline to quickly contact people who would be affected and arrange for passengers stranded overseas to return on flights operated by other carriers.
The airline should compensate passengers for canceled or delayed flights in compliance with the Civil Aviation Act (民用航空法) and the Regulations Governing the Mediation of Disputes Arising from the Transportation Between Civil Aviation Passengers and Aircraft Carriers (民用航空乘客與航空器運送人運送糾紛調處辦法), the agency said.
The CAA said that 164 people in Da Nang on Saturday who faced canceled flights had all returned to Taiwan, while 164 who were scheduled to return from Palawan yesterday would be divided into three groups and brought home within three days on flights offered by other carriers.
FAT’s flight hours have been restricted since March 2017, because the average age of its aircraft was more than 24 years, it said.
The limit on flights was initially set at 1,100 hours per month and was raised to 1,400 hours after the airline’s flight safety records showed signs of improvement.
However, the limit was reduced to 1,350 hours per month due to the company’s safety record.
The airline was found to have exceeded the limit by 100 hours in March and last month, and the CAA warned the airline when it submitted its proposed schedule for this month that it would have to change it, or it would exceed the limit again.
“We will review the flight schedule and issue sanctions immediately if it deliberately exceeded its flight limit,” the CAA said.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications held an emergency meeting yesterday, at which an airline representative was told that FAT must submit a flight adjustment plan to the CAA today to prevent further harm to passengers’ interests.
The airline was ordered to adhere to the 1,350-hour limit when it compiles its schedule for next month and July, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Chi Wen-jong (祁文中) said, adding that the hours include time for flight deployment, air traffic control and other aspects of a journey.
The airline has been warned that it must not abruptly cancel flights again, and it must give adequate warning of reduced flights to the CAA and travel agencies, Chi said.
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