The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it would request that Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) deliver a special briefing to the legislature’s Transportation Committee tomorrow to explain how the Ministry of Transportation and Communications plans to handle the fallout from the decision to dissolve TransAsia Airways.
The airline’s decision to suspend flights for one day has inconvenienced and incurred losses for its customers, KMT caucus secretary-general Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
Chiang questioned whether the government has a full grasp on the gravity of situation and if the ministry or the Civil Aeronautics Administration had received prior notice about the problems facing the airline.
Photo: CNA
“The committee is scheduled to review a budget plan proposed by Taiwan International Port Corp and the appropriation of port construction funds on Thursday [tomorrow],” he said. “We have asked the committee’s convener, KMT Legislator Chen Hsueh-sheng (陳雪生), to change the meeting’s agenda and invite the minister to deliver a special briefing on the TransAsia case.”
The airline has tried to pass responsibility to travel agencies and continues to sell tickets online, KMT Legislator Alicia Wang (王育敏) said, adding that it failed to give a 60-day notice required before a massive layoff.
Reports of the company’s financial problems had circulated in the airline industry for about six months, but the government appears to have been out of the loop, KMT Legislator Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) said.
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