The Ministry of Transportation and Communications could revoke Far Eastern Air Transport’s (FAT) license if it does not improve its operations, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday.
Lin made the remark on the sidelines of a railway project inspection in Taichung when asked how the ministry would handle the situation after the carrier unexpectedly announced on Dec. 12 that it would cease operations.
While FAT chairman Chang Kang-wei (張綱維) on Dec. 13 told a news conference that the airline would try to resume operations with funding of NT$1 billion (US$33.1 million), the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) has not lifted a suspension on its flights, despite receiving an official explanation from the firm.
Photo: Chen Chien-chih, Taipei times
As of yesterday, the airline said that it had received requests to refund more than 170,000 unused tickets.
“The airline’s flight services have been suspended and would not resume before next month’s Lunar New Year holiday,” Lin said. “We have made contingency plans, including speaking with other domestic carriers about offering more flights for travelers heading home.”
“On Monday, we started the second domestic flight booking session, which is still accepting reservations. We aim to ensure people returning to Penghu and Kinmen counties will have no trouble getting home,” he said.
The Financial Supervisory Commission and CAA are to look into FAT’s financial situation, which lacks transparency, he added.
“From the ministry’s perspective, we care most about aviation safety issues, which are also linked to the airline’s financial situation. We hope that the airline can show that it is really working toward resuming fight services,” Lin said.
“So far, the funds that the company has pledged to raise are not there. It has neither shown what it would do to take care of its employees in a responsible manner, nor addressed aviation safety issues,” he said.
The CAA is still reviewing the airline’s explanation, Lin said, adding that the most severe punishment would be for the administration to revoke FAT’s air operator certificate.
The airline should take full responsibility for what has happened to travelers, as well as its employees, regardless of what the consequences might be, he added.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
Prosecutors in New Taipei City yesterday indicted 31 individuals affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for allegedly forging thousands of signatures in recall campaigns targeting three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. The indictments stem from investigations launched earlier this year after DPP lawmakers Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) and Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) filed criminal complaints accusing campaign organizers of submitting false signatures in recall petitions against them. According to the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office, a total of 2,566 forged recall proposal forms in the initial proposer petition were found during the probe. Among those
ECHOVIRUS 11: The rate of enterovirus infections in northern Taiwan increased last week, with a four-year-old girl developing acute flaccid paralysis, the CDC said Two imported cases of chikungunya fever were reported last week, raising the total this year to 13 cases — the most for the same period in 18 years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The two cases were a Taiwanese and a foreign national who both arrived from Indonesia, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The 13 cases reported this year are the most for the same period since chikungunya was added to the list of notifiable communicable diseases in October 2007, she said, adding that all the cases this year were imported, including 11 from
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s license has expired and it cannot simply be restarted, the Executive Yuan said today, ahead of national debates on the nuclear power referendum. The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid and completely shut down on May 17, the day its license expired. The government would prioritize people’s safety and conduct necessary evaluations and checks if there is a need to extend the service life of the reactor, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference. Lee said that the referendum would read: “Do
RSS