China Airlines to Purchase 16 Boeing 787-9 Planes 華航臨董會通過 訂購16架波音787-9客機

China Airlines board of directors approved a plan to purchase 16 of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner widebody planes. Some questioned whether the deal is politically influenced.

Lindsey Graham (April 15, 2022), US Senator: “We hope you buy the 787. ”

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham led a delegation to visit Taiwan in April this year. He stated that he hoped Taiwan would buy Boeing 787 when he met with President Tsai Ing-wen. China Airlines held an interim board of directors meeting on the 30th and passed a resolution to purchase 16 Boeing 787-9 aircraft with a total value of less than NT$140 billion. Was the decision to purchase due to political pressure? Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai responded that this is something that China Airlines has been planning since 2018.

Wang Kwo-tsai, Minister, Minister of Transportation and Communications: “The decision was made without any pressure. It was based on how China Airlines operates and how much these planes would help the company's operations. Operating a plane is still a long-term business. This purchase decision isn't due to short-term political pressure.”

Although it's emphasized that there is no so-called political pressure, a former pilot believes that replacing the outgoing Airbus A330-300 with the Boeing 787 will only increase the training cost to convert existing pilots. At present, both EVA and Starlux airlines operate Airbus aircraft. The reason is that Boeing is expensive while Airbus is relatively economical. The best choice for an airline is to operate aircraft from the same manufacturer.

Chang Chih-hao, Former Pilot: “I didn't expect them to buy 787s. I believe it has high depreciation and fuel costs. An Airbus, relatively speaking, has better fuel economy. So this decision is a relative surprise for the aviation industry.”

The Boeing 737max was rumored to have flaws in its safety design, which affected Boeing's reputation and also pilots' confidence. China Airlines responded that its decision mainly focused on the design and operational efficiency of the new generation of passenger aircraft, as well as the industry's current and future market acceptance. China Airlines deemed the Boeing 787-9 passenger aircraft as the best choice due to its overall benefits. 

美參議員葛理漢4月說道，「我們希望你購買波音787。」葛理漢4月率團訪台，在拜會總統蔡英文時他表態，希望台灣購買波音787，華航30日舉行臨時董事會通過決議，將以總值不超過新台幣1400億元採購包括16架波音787-9客機，是否迫於政治壓力，交通部長王國材回應，這是華航從2018年就開始規畫的事。

交通部長王國材表示 :「主要還是在於華航，就他營運還有飛機對他公司營運的幫助有多大所做的一個決定，也沒有什麼壓力，因為一個飛機進來還是一個長久的經營，也不會說為了短期的壓力就來做這樣的決定。」

強調沒有所謂的壓力，但有前機師認為，用波音787取代即將除役的空巴A330-300型客機只是更增加人力轉換訓練的成本，目前長榮和星宇航空也都是選擇採購空巴，原因就是波音造價昂貴，空巴相對來說經濟實惠，而且同一個航空公司使用同一機種會是最好的選擇。

前機師張志豪表示：「可是沒想到最後是採購787，我相信它成本上的耗損還有這個燃油，因為畢竟還是空巴相對來講它的燃油省油性是比較強的，所以這樣子的一個結果其實讓我們航空界來講是滿意外的。」

波音737max曾傳出有安全設計上的瑕疵，波音聲譽也因此受到影響，連帶打擊飛行員信心，華航回應，評選主要著重在新世代客機設計和營運效益以及業界現行和未來市場上的接受度，波音787-9客機在整體效益綜合分析下，評選結果是最好的。