Wed, Oct 03, 2001 page17

• EVA decides to cut flights

  AIRLINES The air carrier said that the decision was made because the global economic slowdown and recent attacks on the US has hurt passenger volume

  • By Richard Dobson / STAFF REPORTER
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  EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), Taiwan's second-largest carrier, yesterday confirmed it would cut 17 flights per week to the US, Southeast Asia and Australia and trim its workforce in response to weakened global demand in the wake of terrorist attacks in the US.

  "EVA Air has evaluated the performance of every route that it serves and has suspended flights to destinations in the United States and Southeast Asia in response to current market conditions," the company said in a statement.

  EVA began eliminating some flights on Monday, which represent 9 percent of its total international services. Flights from Taipei to Singapore, Penang, Bangkok, Jakarta, Brisbane, Seattle and Newark were reduced or eliminated.

  

  A few scattered passengers await outbound flights at Taoyuan's CKS International Airport yesterday evening. Travelers at the airport may soon become even more sparce as EVA Air plans to reduce the frequency of flights on some routes.

  PHOTO: TONY YAO, TAIPEI TIMES

  According to an EVA executive, who declined to be named, the company made the decision based partly on expectations that passenger load factors to the US would drop by up to 30 percent in coming months.

  "Reservations for October are not so good ... especially tour groups. People simply don't want to go to the United States for fear of more attacks and travel agents aren't arranging such tours because it is so risky," he said.

  The executive said plans for layoffs were in the works, but that no figure had yet been set. He also said that a whole range of streamlining options were being looked into, including early retirement incentives and restructuring among the airline's affiliated and subsidiary companies.

  Local media has speculated that up to 600 workers could lose their jobs.

  EVA has seen a loss of NT$2.52 billion in the first half of the year with predictions prior to Sept. 11 of an annual loss of NT$3.35 billion because of weaker global demand.

  Stock of EVA and China Airlines Co (華航), Taiwan's biggest carrier, fell yesterday by 6.3 percent and 5.7 percent, respectively.

  Both airlines have seen their stocks shed over a third of their value since Sept. 11.

  EVA Air President Daniel Wu (吳景明) said in the statement, "The recent terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, DC have discouraged travelers from flying, further weakening the market. Early this year, the economy began a gradual downward slide, affecting the air transport market worldwide.

  "As we monitored the situation, we evaluated our resources and explored numerous cost-saving counter measures."

  The flight cutbacks will "immediately reduce its costs and make its services more competitive, strengthening the company's long-term operations," the statement said.

  Paul Wang (王振畬), a spokesman for China Airlines, said the company was also considering reducing routes to US destinations such as Los Angeles, New York and Guam, a US territory.

  "Passenger loads to Guam have dropped by around 30 percent, due mainly to fears that it could be seen by terrorists as a military target," Wang said.

  The US military base on Guam is one of the most strategically important to US forces in the Pacific, according to the CIA's World Fact Book.
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