China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) yesterday said it would punish one of its copilots for breaching COVID-19 home quarantine rules.
An investigation has found that the copilot arrived in Taipei on Nov. 13 after completing a cargo flight from San Francisco and was found to have gone out on Nov. 15 to play golf when he should have been at home undergoing three days of quarantine, CAL said.
He is also reported to have gone shopping on Dec. 27 after another flight, when he was supposed to be conducting self-health management after being released from quarantine.
Photo courtesy of China Airlines Ltd
The copilot, who arrived in Taipei on Dec. 22 on a cargo flight from Anchorage, Alaska, was allowed to go out after completing three days of home quarantine.
However, he was required to conduct self-health management for seven days, which means he should have avoided crowded venues and worn a mask when going outside.
The copilot has admitted to his misconduct, CAL said, adding that it would report the case to the Civil Aeronautics Administration and the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
The airline would convene a disciplinary committee to determine his punishment, it added.
CAL employees who breach the company’s epidemic prevention measures could be suspended or fired, it said.
The CECC late last month announced that from Friday last week, long-haul flight crews or flight crews that enter another country before returning to Taiwan must remain in quarantine for seven days, up from the previous three days for pilots and five days for cabin crew.
Separately on Monday, CAL said the final passenger flight of one of its last remaining four Boeing 747-400 aircraft would take place next month, before the airline retires the planes this quarter.
The event, dubbed “Farewell Party for the Queen of the Sky,” would take place on Feb. 6 and feature the jet with registration number B-18215, the last of the passenger model to come off Boeing Co’s production line, CAL said.
It was delivered in April 2005.
The nearly half-day event is to begin with check-in for flight CI-2747 at 7:47am at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 2, followed by a series of special events planned at the departure gate, the airline said.
In partnership with the Japan Shizuoka Prefecture Taiwan Office, the flight is scheduled to depart from Taoyuan at 11:30am and fly over Mount Fuji, part of which is in Shizuoka, for an aerial viewing before turning back to Taiwan, it said.
The trip is expected to take 5 hours and 40 minutes, it added.
The airline is to sell 350 tickets for the event through travel e-commerce platform KKday beginning today. The passengers would also be given gift bags prepared by CAL and Shizuoka Prefecture.
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