TAIPEI, TAIWAN (July 10, 2019) -- After EVA Air flight attendants went on strike, some Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union (TFAU) leaders and supporters threatened malicious actions that have made passengers anxious about flying with EVA. EVA takes this issue very seriously and is reinforcing preventive measures to ensure every passenger’s flight safety.

EVA suffered tremendous revenue loss and damage to its reputation from the labor action launched by the external trade union. On July 10, EVA Chairman Steve Lin sent a letter to every employee, urging them to cast aside differences and treat all their colleagues with respect. As long as the employees are willing to embrace tolerance and forgiveness as they work together, EVA will be able to greet a new dawn, maintain its sustainable development and reach new heights of service quality and safety.

Chairman, President urge Flight Attendants to settle differences

Starting on July 10, EVA Chairman Steve Lin and President Clay Sun are meeting face-to-face with all of the airline’s flight attendants to clear up misunderstandings and improve labor relations. During these meetings, the Chairman and President are also emphasizing EVA’s firm stand against bullying and the importance of rebuilding a cordial workplace environment as soon as possible.

EVA offers all its employees benefits that include services and programs to help relieve stress. The airline makes every possible effort to encourage and support whole body wellness to ensure a positive workplace environment, in addition to flight safety and inflight service quality.

Operating procedures for opening/closing cabin doors to be triple checked

Unfounded rumors are circulating that flight attendants who stayed with the strike from beginning to end will take revenge on those who returned to work before the action was over by not closing cabin doors properly. EVA is encouraging flight attendants to stop these rumors and ensuring that everyone involved in flight safety follows proper procedures for operating these doors.

EVA’s standard operating procedure for opening and closing cabin doors is a three-check process. Ground staff close cabin doors before an aircraft depart. Inside the cabin, the purser and flight attendants responsible for door operations check to make sure they are securely in the ARMED position. The purser then ensures all aircraft doors are secure via a cabin doors status indicator. When the aircraft lands, cabin crews and ground staff follow the same strict operating procedures in reverse. Passengers can rest assured that EVA’s established standard operating procedures for closing and opening cabin doors include multiple mechanisms that prevent human errors.

Onboard food safety crucial to flight safety

EVA’s inflight meals for passengers, pilots and flight attendants are carefully inspected and strictly secured. The airline reserves samples of meals for random examinations. It designates flight attendants to serve each cabin class, fulfill  passengers’ dining, snack and beverage requests and heat meals. Flight attendants in business class are also responsible for serving pilots’ meals. Specific service assignments create a chain of responsibility so that any unusual or questionable food incident can be easily traced to the individual in charge and investigated. EVA has strict food handling procedures and makes every effort to ensure food quality and safety for passengers, pilots and flight attendants.

Pilots and flight attendants must work together, be able to trust each other and have mutual respect throughout every flight. When a flight attendant serves a meal to a member of the cockpit crew, removing lids or tin foil is based on the pilot’s preference to avoid any possible food safety issue.

Inflight food safety is crucial to everyone onboard, including flight attendants. Misconduct involving deliberate food contamination would seriously endanger the flight safety record and service quality reputation that EVA and thousands of employees have worked very hard to build over the past 30 years. If such an incident did occur, EVA would investigate and, depending on findings, take appropriate disciplinary actions against those responsible for the malicious acts.

EVA has been repeatedly recognized for its excellent flight safety record. Prestigious international air transport ratings organizations such as AirlineRatings.com and JACDEC consistently rank EVA among the world’s top 20 safest airlines. These rankings visibly demonstrate EVA’s exceptionally high operating standards and error prevention practices.

EVA bans Bullying, frees all Employees from fear

Though the strike has just ended, numerous bullying incidents have been reported. EVA will not tolerate bullying of any kind and will maintain a safe workplace for all employees. EVA is reviewing existing procedures to identify more effective ways of strengthening current company-wide anti-bullying procedures so that all employees in the air and on the ground worldwide can enjoy their work in a fear-free environment. EVA does not discriminate. It applies the same rules to disciplinary actions for any malicious behavior that endangers flight safety to all employees whether they are union members or not.