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.
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