The government has decided to revoke Far Eastern Air Transport’s (FAT) civil aviation flight permit after it made a surprise announcement in December that it was canceling its flights.
The cancelation of the permit means that FAT would not be allowed to resume operations despite its petition to do so, leaving the carrier’s 900 employees without jobs.
In a statement on Friday, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said it took into account all of the facts and laws related to the case when it approved a recommendation made by the Civil Aeronautics Administration in late December to revoke the permit.
Photo: Cheng Wei-chi, Taipei Times
FAT had petitioned to resume operations, saying the Dec. 12 announcement that it was canceling all of its flights — starting the following day — was because of a misunderstanding among management.
When the airline announced that it was suspending services, it cited years of losses and difficulties in raising funds, but a day later, it said it intended to restore services, as it expected to receive new funding.
However, the ministry, citing the Civil Aviation Act (民用航空法), said that a carrier is only allowed to stop flights 60 days after securing permission to do so from aviation regulators, so it was undisputable that FAT had broken the law.
Beyond revoking FAT’s flight permit, the ministry also fined the carrier NT$3 million (US$99,174).
All of FAT’s air rights for domestic and international flights were revoked and would be reassigned to other carriers, the ministry said.
FAT had operated flights on 62 domestic and international routes to 47 cities in Southeast Asia, South Korea and Japan.
While FAT repeatedly vowed to obtain new funds, the ministry said that the carrier failed to deliver on its promises.
FAT also failed to pay its employees’ December salaries on Jan. 6 as scheduled, the ministry said.
On Jan. 22, FAT was fined NT$1.5 million by labor authorities for failing to making outstanding salary payments to its employees.
The ministry said that it would release measures this month for FAT customers who need refunds.
As for FAT’s employees, Deputy Minister of Labor Lin Ming-yu (林明裕) said that the Ministry of Labor would assist them in finding new jobs through a job-matching service.
It would also help them apply for unemployment benefits and assign other financial resources to make outstanding salary payments, which are estimated to range from NT$200 million to NT$300 million.
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