Taiwanese Star Alliance carrier EVA Air is receiving quite a bit of scrutiny over a recent incident, which certainly points to the airline not prioritizing the wellbeing of its employees…
Continue reading: EVA Air Flight Attendant Dies After Being Denied Medical Attention While On Duty
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Obviously very unfortunate. The big outstanding question for me, and it’s odd the article doesn’t mention it, is whether the FA sought medical attention on her own while in Milan. Did company regulations or the potential cost prevent her from doing so? It looks like they’d have a 28 or more hour layover. It doesn’t excuse the behavior of the cabin manager, but seems odd.
This is quite sad and concerning. Glad there is an ongoing investigation, and thank you Ben for reporting on it. The manager's failure to at least contact Medlink is problematic, and perhaps was a violation of the airline's procedures.
I'd imagine that without the support of the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union and EVA Airways Corporate Union, perhaps, this would've been quickly 'swept under the rug' in order to 'save face' for the company. So, in a way, it's yet another example of how worker protections and organizing are important in aviation and other industries.
Also, if this had happened in the CCP-occupied 'mainland,' the story could have 'disappeared.' Recall, Taiwan remains a free, independent country. I'm sure many of us have visited, and respect their sovereignty. If you disagree, please do 'attempt' using a visa for one to go to the other.
"...it's yet another example of how worker protections and organizing are important in aviation and other industries."
Bingo.
Recently flew Europe to Singapore with Singapore Airlines. Approx half way through (whilst most were sleeping) an announcement was made that a crew member was unwell and needed the support of a doctor, and the cabin lights were turned on. For an airline, like Singapore, who takes pride in every little aspect of their image, they clearly saw it beneficial to wake most of the plane in the hopes that a passenger could help their crew (as they should). Thankfully the crew member was okay and flight continued. Disappointing that EVA lacked care for their own people.
34 years old is too young, so I'm curious what was the cause of death. It's not like a 60 or even 50 year old passing, but someone in their 30s. Unless they had an undisclosed preexisting condition.
Thank you for that specific endorsement. It's actually a pleasant surprise to me.
Occasionally, there are commenters on travel blogs like OMAAT who seem to 'hate' unions. Unless they are literal shills paid by those companies to talk bad about organized labor, it's just wild to me to see random people attack these organizations that fight for higher wages, retirement benefits, improved conditions, stable schedules, and so much more. Like, do people enjoy their weekends? 40-hour work week? A living, no a thriving, wage? C'mon.
For the haters, I imagine they've got certain cable news stations on in the background, pumping out anti-worker, pro-corporate, 'rugged individualism' propaganda.
But, to hear it from anyone who actually works in aviation (or other industries where unions still exist), friends, please, if you're already paying dues, but don't like what the union is doing, by all means, get involved, run for leadership, be the change.
Indeed the health of the crew should be a top concern. Without knowing the nature of the illness, others could have been at risk. Sadly her death could enforce changes. Comforting thoughts to her loved ones.
Saving face is probably what motivated the Cabin Crew Manager's actions. It doesn't look too good when people see a sick cabin crew member or crew in a wheelchair or being taken away by ambulance in full uniform. Perish the thought! Like Ben said " Often following the rules and presenting a good image get in the way of taking care of people." Cabin crew are also human beings and the death of an actual human being is not the way the airline should want to learn this lesson.
Well said, MetsNomad. (Ya gotta believe, but, oof.)
They say, "every safety rule and regulation is written in blood." Lest we forget. Of course, not every rule or practice is literally 'life or death,' but there are real reasons behind them.
At times, it feels like some among us too quick to seek to remove the '100-year-flood levee' because 'well, there hasn't been a flood in about a century...' *facepalm*
She died from a ruptured cerebral aneurysm is my guess. Not as likely is heart attack, meningitis, small bowel obstruction, pulmonary embolism.
I did not use AI buy someone might want to try chat gpt. Instead, I am from the Hard Knocks Medical College and did residency at the Holiday Inn Express and fellowship at the Dr. Google Medical Center
^^yep, the workers protections sure worked to benefit for the deceased flight attendant^^.......
EVA's FA union is very much in the fight. If they "exploit" this incident to better conditions for their members, it's a good thing. And it's good this story is public and covered by actual journalists, which can happen in Taiwan, but not in China. @Mg's comment suggests that since the union didn't prevent the death from happening, therefore union bad; make what you will of the logic.
I've visited Taiwan and flown EVA multiple times. Please believe me when I tell you both are treasures worth fighting for. You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.
I wonder if she sought medical care in Milan between the two flights, and if so, what was found (or not).
It is fascinating the comments here about unions now, given that it was not too long ago many posters here were calling for their complete annihilation when Ben posted other articles indicating they were calling for better working conditions for their members.
It is ever amazing that it has to take the death of someone...
You are a disgusting creature who has the heart to joke over a person's death!
Those Asians need to stop being followers and worker bees and learn to stand up for themselves. In the US, the sick flight attendant would've called an ambulance or gone to the hospital herself, not wait for permission from some manager! Maybe if they started thinking and acting for themselves instead of just doing whatever they're told to do by the authorities, then Asian countries wouldn't be police state dictatorships!
Very disturbing incident. 34 years is a young age, and the poor staff had asked for help, which was not attended to. The matter should not be left unattended, and a full clinical audit should be performed to protect the welfare of others.
To those victimizing the victim questioning as to whether or not they had a pre existing condition or even went for medical attention while in Milan are moot points. She should have been given medical attention onboard at the onset.
IMO, if she asked for an ambulance after landing, and the manager really refused to call one, that’s when this escalated from a workplace issue into a criminal issue.
It is reported that she askedfro ambulance, and the her manager told her that it cost too much for an ambulance and she will have to pay for it.
100%
There's a real problem with victim shaming in our society, sadly. I pity those that instead choose to vilify the vulnerable. Empathy is not weakness. Compassion is strength.
Jokes *can* be fun. But, apparently, there is 'a line.' I haven't forgotten about Asiana Flight 214, either. 3 people died following that incident. Since someone died here, too... it's... bad karma.
Given that some of this incident happened in Milan, I wonder whether the EU will take interest. They have actual worker protection laws.
I’ll tell you something that did happen in the United States with a U.S. airline. Less then ten years ago a belt loader that was being used to load luggage at the rear of an airline sudden stopped running and broke. A ramp supervisor ordered a ramp employee to take the parking brake off and physically push the heavy belt loading away from the airplane so that it could be dispatched on time. The company’s standard operating procedures required that the belt loader be towed by another piece of equipment, but the superior was worried about taking a delay so he told the employee to push it away. The employee hurt his back so badly that he could never return to his job. The supervisor denied telling the employee to push the equipment by hand.
It starts from the Top. Sensible leadership, sensible culture, great education make highly functional society.
So much for great Italian universal health care.
If you visit Italy, get Covid, and need Paxlovid, you are banned from getting it. The universal health care system is too cheap to pay for it and bans you from buying it yourself.
Local news additionally reported that one of the main causes which the crew reported duty is because of the company’s performance policy which discourages crews to call in sick, as taking sick leaves will affect their appraisal, rostering privileges and bonuses. In fact, the airline has been fined multiple times in the past years by Taiwanese authority for violating labor law. Shame on a so called 5-star airline treating crew in such inhumane manner.
Story is still breaking though, it seems like the story's posts aren't always 100% correct atm. I'd probably wait for the full story/investigation before making any criticisms...
Well, it wouldn't be the internet if we all simply withheld judgment, and never speculated wildly... *cough*
This has little to do with Italy or its healthcare system; it's more so to do with an airline and its policies and procedures (and apparently violation of those), which may have contributed to the negative health outcome of one of their crew members.
Your failed attempt to use this tragedy as an opportunity to vilify universal healthcare is abhorrent. Healthcare is a human right. While no 'system' is perfect, it is far better to have a baseline standard of care for all people within your country, rather than to only care for those with 'means.' We really should judge a society on how it treats its least fortunate.
As for the USA and healthcare, which many of us who frequent this site are from, we are both the wealthiest nation, yet the USA is the only developed country without a form of universal healthcare; our current system of health insurance is woefully inept. We need real reform. I don't expect any of that to happen anytime soon, sadly, because current leadership seems to prefer suffering instead.
Good point. If that's actually needed, I hope that they do intervene. The European Union is not perfect, but at least they still seem to try to care about worker and consumer protections, and they legislate and enforce, accordingly. For instance, I've long advocated for an EU261-style air passenger rights legislation for the USA (or, even a Canada APPR-equivalent), so that we, passengers, get paid when airlines significantly delay or cancel flights within their control, but it would likely take Congress, and obviously, they aren't 'in the mood' these days. Someday, though!
Your comment reads like part of an LSAT test or something. All that's missing is:
Which of the following is most strongly suggested by the author?
A) Asians need to be better leaders.
B) Ambulances should be called by a sick person.
C) Waiting for permission is okay in some situations.
D) Obeying authority has its downsides.
Personally, I can't tell which answer is correct, because you're all over the place with generalities (offensive ones at that) and emotion (and emotion out of all proportion at that).
Maybe there's an option "E) Who knows, because the OP wrote something that mimics insanity?"
The US health system is hardly praiseworthy, but criticism of Italy is pointless because the the poor woman didn't get anywhere near a hospital. That seems to have been the problem.
Maybe you should get your facts right before posting stories...
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/6219306
Why don't you try living a dictatorship and standing up for yourself. Not as easy as it sounds. Lucky for you, you won't have to wait long to find out. Looks like it should only be a year or two and you'll get to see it with your own eyes in this country that both you and I love.
You do understand that even in countries with “free” universal healthcare that typically only for residents or those with established work visas right? Obviously not! Most have to pay so never assume if you get sick in a country with socialized healthcare you get a free ride. Also why you ALWAYS buy travel insurance. The EU now can question if you have it when you enter.
What are you specifically upset about? The only major difference between Ben's post, and your source are that, Ben leaves the cause of death unspecified, because they don't actually know yet, whereas your source suspects its AOSD, but that's not conclusive. It's an ongoing investigation.
You are spending too much time with Gary... Things are generally polite and decent here.
Well said, Retired Gambler (and nice to see you here as well.) Yeah, I’ve come around to getting travel insurance at least for my overseas trips because as much as getting reimbursed for unused prepaid accommodations missed due to a weather or airline related issue is helpful, the possibility of an accident requiring healthcare, evacuation, etc., is rare, but when you need it… you NEED it. Don’t merely ‘self-insure’ for that stuff. It’ll cost ya!
The key difference is the timeline and sequence of medical intervention. The link indicates she was seen by a doctor, treated and reffered for further evaluation on Sept 25th, upon arrival back in Taiwan. On Oct 1st she was receiving medical testing as part of a work-up for her symptoms. She was subsequently hospitalized and then died Oct 10th. This doesn't justify dening someone requested medical attention, but it suggests that had she received care enroute to, or in, Milan the outcome would not necessarily have been any different. The story on OMAAT is easily misinterprited as a case of rapid decline after denial of sick leave with death shortly after arrival home.
Paxlovid is very helpful in patients with Covid at high risk for hospitalization and death and is covered by the Italian National Health Service in this group. It does NOT show benefit in young, previously health patients. It would not be surprising to me (an MD) that it would be denied reimbursement in the latter group.
@TravelinWilly lol. Love it.
Comments like Jim always brings to mind what a psychologist told me. Stupid people are not the kind who cannot solve complex mathematical equations.
Stupid people are people who thinks there is a easy simple answer to complex problems and they can't understand why everyone doesn't just follow his advice. Seeing comments online this is exactly our problem. We watch a 2 min video or read half of an article and then automatically assume we have all the facts and now they have the absolute correct irrefutable solution.
I think both the airline and the senior flight attendant shall both be responsible and I hope the family go after both.
Thanks, the good old “we know best” condescension masked as good advice. Making general statements about “Asians” (which ones? Because Japanese, Mainland Chinese, Singaporeans, Indians etc are all “Asians” but very different culturally) while knowing little about Asian culture.
Medlink should have immediately been called (Banner University medical Center in Phoenix) which is standard for all passengers and crew alike to assess the crew members condition, in conjunction with a volunteer onboard medical professional , ( if available) Im assuming the crew member would have had a layover of at least 24hours in Milan, the crew member would have access to the companies internal medical division who should have referred her a hospital or Doctor locally , there appears to be zero “duty of care” and I wouldn’t like to be in both the Managers shoes or EVA- it’s extremely serious
Taiwan isn't a dictatorship, but it sounds like EVA is. If an employee tells you that they’re feeling unwell; that they think they need an ambulance to go to hospital, FFS; then it’s the supervisor's job to get them to medical attention. You can deal with the cranky managers back in Taiwan and a potentially short-staffed/delayed flight after you’ve helped your sick subordinate. People have to come before schedules.
Well everyone is expendable in the end. If you are not super hawttie in that part of the world, too fat, the regime will dispose of you to death out the door.
What despicable people Martin O'Connor and AJO must be. This poor woman was young and someone's sister or daughter and the best you can do is make some cheap racist jokes. I hope you get banned from this site as you are totally shameless oafs.
While it looks great on a bumper sticker, nothing that requires the resources and labor of others is a "human right"
Current leadership? how is it his fault? what did Biden do in 4 years? what did Obama do? what did Clinton do? you blame Trump but for over 40 years nobody has done ANYTHING. hardly one person's fault...