Tigerair Taiwan yesterday announced that its year-end bonus for employees would be an average of 10.8 months of pay this year, the highest among all Taiwanese airlines, after its workers’ union complained last week that their salary increase is the lowest among all Taiwanese airlines.
“After I explained to the board members what we accomplished last year and our plans for the next 10 years, the board agreed that… the year-end bonus for employees would be an average of 10.8 months salary,” Tigerair Taiwan Ltd (台灣虎航) chairman Kevin Chen (陳漢銘) said.
“The highest bonus an employee could receive is 14 months salary,” he added.
Photo: Ting Yi, Taipei Times
Meanwhile, the salary increase for employees would be 11.48 percent on average this year, while the food allowance would increase by 12 percent, Chen said, adding that the year-end bonus was already in the employees’ bank accounts by the time the news was announced.
The union on Thursday accused Taiwan’s only budget airline of overworking their employees. Although each employee is said to have earned the airline NT$1.67 million (US$53,500) last year, the union said that the airline’s salary increase among workers is the lowest compared with China Airlines, EVA Airways and Starlux Airlines.
After the airline made the announcement, the union said on Facebook: “Our voices have been heard, and the company responded to our petitions!”
“We thank the union’s board and members, as well as other workers’ unions for their efforts and support. We also thank Tigerair Taiwan and the executives who assisted us in building better and more pleasant labor relations,” the union said.
The nation’s only budget
airline is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Today, it is to launch a new route to Fukushima, which would become its 19th route to Japan.
Chen yesterday said it is expanding its flight network by launching new flights to Japan, China and Southeast Asia.
Aside from Fukushima, the airline is considering launching new flights to Japan’s Tottori, Shizuoka, Oita and Miyazaki, as well as Shimane Prefecture, Chen said.
“We are paying much closer attention to our flight services to Japan, which account for more than 80 percent of our revenue,” Chen said.
Passengers who apply for a new passport for the first time would be given a discount on
airfare to Japan, Chen said.
Regarding China, the airline is gauging the possibility of launching flights to Tianjin, Wuxi, Fuzhou, Xiamen and Zhangjiajie, he added.
This summer, the airline is to launch flights to Hong Kong, he said, adding: “In the initial phase, we would fly two flights to Hong Kong per day, with one departing from Taipei and the other from Kaohsiung.”
The airline is also evaluating the feasibility of launching flights to Haiphong City in Vietnam and Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Chen said.
The airline is increasing flights to Phuket in Thailand this year, Chen said, adding that Tigerair Taiwan remains the sole carrier to the island from Taiwan.
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
Weather conditions across Taiwan are expected to remain stable today, but cloudy to rainy skies are expected from tomorrow onward due to increasing moisture in the atmosphere, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). Daytime highs today are expected to hit 25-27°C in western Taiwan and 22-24°C in the eastern counties of Yilan, Hualien, and Taitung, data on the CWA website indicated. After sunset, temperatures could drop to 16-17°C in most parts of Taiwan. For tomorrow, precipitation is likely in northern Taiwan as a cloud system moves in from China. Daytime temperatures are expected to hover around 25°C, the CWA said. Starting Monday, areas
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
Taiwan has recorded its first fatal case of Coxsackie B5 enterovirus in 10 years after a one-year-old boy from southern Taiwan died from complications early last month, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. CDC spokesman Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) told a news conference that the child initially developed a fever and respiratory symptoms before experiencing seizures and loss of consciousness. The boy was diagnosed with acute encephalitis and admitted to intensive care, but his condition deteriorated rapidly, and he passed away on the sixth day of illness, Lo said. This also marks Taiwan’s third enterovirus-related death this year and the first severe
RSS