Despite being statistically one of the most dangerous carriers in the world, China Airlines Co (
In a survey of tour leaders and travel agents, Common Health (康健雜誌) magazine -- a sister publication of the popular CommonWealth (天下雜誌) magazine -- reported in its July edition that respondents said that out of the 29 airlines that service routes to Taiwan, China Airlines ranked number two in terms of healthiness.
The measure of healthiness was arrived at by asking questions about such factors as seat comfort, service attitude, cabin space, in-flight meals, humidity, noise, audio and video entertainment, lavatory cleanliness and flight safety record.
Of the 905 surveys sent out, only 274 or 30.28 percent were returned prior to the China Airlines crash on May 25.
Singapore Airlines Ltd (
But while ranking number one in the individual categories of seat comfort, service attitude, in-flight meals and health information, China Airlines did not score high on flight safety, even though the survey was taken before the May crash.
However, the rankings appear to diverge from the statistics, as China Airlines was ranked at number six in terms of flight safety, despite the fact that the air carrier had been viewed as one of the most dangerous air carriers in the world, even prior to the crash.
Australia's Qantas Airlines, which has never experienced a fatal event was ranked just above China Airlines at number five.
Singapore Airlines, which suffered 83 fatalities at Taiwan's Chiang Kai Shek International Airport during a takeoff roll in October 2000, was ranked number one in this category, trailed by EVA and Cathay Pacific.
Remarkably, in light of China Airlines' strong showing, respondents ranked airline flight safety as the second most important factor in assessing in-flight health.
In the ten fatal incidents involving China Airlines flights since 1970, 801 passengers have perished, making it arguably the deadliest carrier in the world.
China Airlines over the weekend offered the families of victims of its May 25 crash NT$6.5 million per victim for emergency use. The disaster claimed 225 lives. The emergency funds will be deducted from the final amount of compensation paid. The amount of compensation has yet to be arrived at.
* A recent magazine survey revealed that tour leaders and travel agents believe that of all air carriers servicing Taiwan, only Singapore airlines ranks higher that China Airlines in terms of in-flight health.
* Paradoxically, the same respondents contended that airline safety is the second-most significant factor in assessing in-flight health.
AI SERVER DEMAND: ‘Overall industry demand continues to outpace supply and we are expanding capacity to meet it,’ the company’s chief executive officer said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported that net profit last quarter rose 27 percent from the same quarter last year on the back of demand for cloud services and high-performance computing products. Net profit surged to NT$44.36 billion (US$1.48 billion) from NT$35.04 billion a year earlier. On a quarterly basis, net profit grew 5 percent from NT$42.1 billion. Earnings per share expanded to NT$3.19 from NT$2.53 a year earlier and NT$3.03 in the first quarter. However, a sharp appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar since early May has weighed on the company’s performance, Hon Hai chief financial officer David Huang (黃德才)
The Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robot Show, which is to be held from Wednesday to Saturday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, would showcase the latest in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven robotics and automation technologies, the organizer said yesterday. The event would highlight applications in smart manufacturing, as well as information and communications technology, the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robotics Association said. More than 1,000 companies are to display innovations in semiconductors, electromechanics, industrial automation and intelligent manufacturing, it said in a news release. Visitors can explore automated guided vehicles, 3D machine vision systems and AI-powered applications at the show, along
FORECAST: The greater computing power needed for emerging AI applications has driven higher demand for advanced semiconductors worldwide, TSMC said The government-supported Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) has raised its forecast for this year’s growth in the output value of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry to above 22 percent on strong global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications. In its latest IEK Current Quarterly Model report, the institute said the local semiconductor industry would have output of NT$6.5 trillion (US$216.6 billion) this year, up 22.2 percent from a year earlier, an upward revision from a 19.1 percent increase estimate made in May. The strong showing of the local semiconductor industry largely reflected the stronger-than-expected performance of the integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing segment,
NVIDIA FACTOR: Shipments of AI servers powered by GB300 chips would undergo pilot runs this quarter, with small shipments possibly starting next quarter, it said Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), which supplies artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp chips, yesterday said that AI servers are on track to account for 70 percent of its total server revenue this year, thanks to improved yield rates and a better learning curve for Nvidia’s GB300 chip-based servers. AI servers accounted for more than 60 percent of its total server revenue in the first half of this year, Quanta chief financial officer Elton Yang (楊俊烈) told an online conference. The company’s latest production learning curve of the AI servers powered by Nvidia’s GB200 chips has improved after overcoming key component
RSS