Far Eastern Air Transport Explains Sudden Flight Stoppage|遠航無預警停飛 張綱維現身介紹新機

Far Eastern Air Transport recently stopped all flights without warning. On the morning of May 29, airline Chair Fenno Chang finally made an appearance. He said apart from exhibiting new ATR aircraft, the airline would retire its aging McDonnell Douglas aircraft ahead of schedule in August. Chang guaranteed there would be no more sudden flight stoppages in the future.


Far Eastern Air Transport will soon launch its new ATR 72-600 passenger aircraft. On the 29th, airline Chair Fenno Chang finally addressed the airline's sudden suspension of flights.

So, we are now using 10 ATRs to replace the four MDs originally serving domestic routes. During the transition phase, there will be some -- this lapse -- we also admit there was a lapse on our part and we are very sorry. As soon as the phasing-out process starts, no more (flights will be suspended). I promise the people of Taiwan this issue is at an end.

There is one McDonnell Douglas plane undergoing maintenance in the hangar. The airline says it will start phasing out its four MD aircraft later this year due to public sentiment and potential flight safety issues stemming from the advanced age of the planes. The planes will be replaced by new ATR aircraft between August and the end of the year and domestic flights won't be affected.

There are no flight time quotas on the new ATR fleet because there are no (flight time restrictions). Their president has been meeting with his flight safety team virtually every month. We have been monitoring all their flight safety standards.

The Civil Aeronautics Administration says the monthly flight time quota of 1,350 hours was primarily for the aging MD planes and there will be no such restrictions on the new fleet.



嶄新白色機身、雙螺旋漿，遠東航空ATR72-600新客機亮相，面對日前發生的停飛風波，遠航董座張綱維終於出面說明。

遠東航空董事長 張綱維表示：「所以我們現在用十架的ATR來取代，原本飛國內的四架MD，機隊轉換勢必會有一些，這個，這個失誤，我們也承認，我們有失誤，也非常對國人，也感到抱歉，我從開始淘汰就不會有這個問題(停飛)，我跟國人保證絕對不會有這個問題。」

停機棚內也停放一架保養中的MD飛機，遠航表示顧及國人觀感，憂心高齡機型的飛安問題，將在今年八月開始到年底，提前淘汰四架高齡MD飛機，後續將以新型ATR取代，國內航線調度沒有問題。

民航局標準組組長 林俊良表示：「新的ATR機隊是沒有時限(飛時限制)，就沒有時間管制，從總經理跟他的飛安團隊，團隊每個月幾乎都有開會，我們對於它飛安的各項指標都有落實監控。」

民航局表示，每月1350小時飛航時數，主要針對MD高齡機型，如果八月後MD機型如期淘汰，新型機型將不受限制。