China Airlines (CAL) yesterday issued an apology, saying that cabin crew management department manager Liu Chien-wen’s (劉建文) remark that President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) was the only passenger who did not buy duty-free goods on a state visit was not true.
“It was extremely inappropriate for Liu to lightly give such an inaccurate statement regarding the incident, and China Airlines apologizes to those who were also on the airplane and were inconvenienced by Liu’s comments,” the airline said.
CAL has been trying to control the damage to its reputation from a duty-free cigarette smuggling scandal and yesterday sent three of its employees who have extensive experience accompanying the nation’s chief executive on state visits to participate in a morning radio show hosted by political commentator Clara Chou (周玉蔻) to explain their work.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
However, the interview resulted in a lawmaker threatening to sue the airline for lying and leaving some crucial questions unanswered.
CAL public relations assistant manager Lin Heng-shan (林恒杉), cabin manager Luo Ting (駱婷) and Liu were featured on an episode of the show titled “The side of the presidential charter flights most people do not know about.”
Liu and Lin have been assigned to 13 and eight presidential charter flights respectively, serving former presidents Chen Shui-bian and Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), as well as Tsai.
Luo was assigned to serve Ma on overseas tours five times.
The highlight of the interview was when Chou asked about the sale of duty-free items during Tsai’s latest trip and whether there was anything unusual.
Liu said that many members of the delegation placed orders for duty-free products, as it was a 12-day trip that did not leave them much time for shopping.
It was also inevitable that they would want to use a business trip to buy such goods, he said, adding that the airline prepares more stock for presidential charter flights.
Liu said that he did not notice anything abnormal about the sales, adding that people usually place orders before they board the flights if they want to buy larger quantities, of which cabin crew would not be aware.
Asked if the airline had developed a special application for presidential charter flights, Liu said that CAL has since 2011 allowed travelers to preorder duty-free products online and have them delivered to the flight.
Since last year, travelers have been able to preorder products through an application that the airline developed, he said, adding that they receive a discount for advance orders.
Staff processing the orders can tell that they are for a presidential charter flight based on the flight number, Liu said, without providing additional details on how such orders are handled.
None of the three explained how national security officials were able to purchase duty-free cigarettes in quantities that exceeded what travelers can buy online or on board.
Asked if Tsai had bought any duty-free products, Liu said: “It appears that she was the only one who did not buy anything.”
Deputy Legislative Speaker Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) and Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) later said that they did not buy anything while on board, with Tsai Chi-chang threatening to sue the airline for defamation, leading to the carrier’s swift apology.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) urged the airline to tell the truth and not to misspeak again.
Additional reporting by Kao Shih-ching
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