A recent incident at Tokyo’s Narita Airport has caused anger among customers of Taiwan’s Starlux Airlines. After passengers took their frustration out on flight crews, airline employees are asking for an apology from the company’s leadership.
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Passengers are shown on video berating flight attendants on a Starlux Airlines flight after being kept on board for several hours only to be told the flight was canceled. Tensions boiled over after multiple issues caused long delays on a flight from Tokyo to Taipei last weekend.
Passengers were ultimately told the flight was canceled due to rules limiting the amount of overtime airline staff can work. Both passengers and crew were forced to sleep overnight in Tokyo’s Narita Airport as they awaited their flights back to Taiwan.
Starlux Chairman Chang Kuo-wei (張國煒) personally flew to Tokyo to apologize to the angry passengers. But some, such as the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union Deputy Secretary-General Yeh Chin-yu (葉瑾瑜), are now calling for him to apologize to the flight crews as well.
Yeh says scheduling issues that cause flight delays are not the cabin crew’s fault, but they are the ones who bear the brunt of passengers' anger. She adds that she has heard many complaints from flight attendants about overworking and fatigue.
The incident caused Starlux’s stock to drop as much as 3%, though it seems to have mostly recovered. Investors may be willing to forgive Starlux, but it’s still up in the air for passengers and flight crews.