Far Eastern Air Transport (FAT) employees yesterday petitioned the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to give the airline a second opportunity and assist it in resuming flight services.
Led by FAT deputy manager Lu Chi-rong (盧紀融), about a dozen employees turned in a written petition with 580 staff signatures to the ministry and the Executive Yuan.
“The company has found a quality investor. Employees would get their salaries so long as the government assists the airline in resuming flight services,” Lu said. “We are asking the government to give the airline a chance, and give employees a way to work and survive.”
Photo: Cheng Wei-chi, Taipei Times
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said the airline has suspended its flight services for more than 40 days, and the Civil Aviation Act (民用航空法) requires that it must first pass a five-stage review from the Civil Aeronautics Administration before it can resume operations.
This procedure is the only way that the airline could restart flight services, regardless of whether the ministry decides to revoke its air operator certificate, he said.
“The investor should be more interested in knowing if FAT’s employees and aircraft are sound enough to ensure flight safety,” Wang added.
FAT chairman Chang Kang-wei (張綱維) on Dec. 13 told a news conference that it was the airline’s management who misunderstood the situation and made the decision to suspend flight services, adding that it was applying to resume services.
On Wednesday, he said that the company could only secure new funding if the ministry allows the airline to resume flight services.
However, the ministry said that Chang has failed five times to keep his promise of securing new funding for the company.
The airline’s employees have yet to receive their salaries for last month, Lu said, adding that most of them are hoping that the government would help them.
More than half of the employees have signed the petition, she added.
In the petition, employees said that they still go to work every day, even though flight services has been suspended since Dec. 13, because they need their job to support their families.
“Some of us are senior employees who have dedicated their whole life to the company,” the statement said. “We understand that the company is having financial difficulties at the moment, but all of us, including our families, would lose our financial support if the ministry continues to prohibit the airline from resuming flight services,” the statement read.
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS