Starlux Airlines’ Chairman can’t catch a break. Not only is he being investigated for letting an influencer into the cockpit of an inaugural flight, but now he’s being investigated for flying while fatigued…
Continue reading: Starlux Chairman Being Investigated For Flying Fatigued
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Hmm... Although this is probably a slightly more significant breach than the Chuigate, it seems slightly odd that the CAA has gone as far as investigating (and asking him) if he slept on the redeye to Japan... Is every single relief pilot always investigated by the respective aviation authority to see if they slept on their way to the relief mission? Do you *maybe* think that a certain third party might be particularly interested in pushing forwards all these CAA investigations with the intent of generating bad press for Starlux?
Won't point fingers as it's mostly speculation, but it certainly makes me question what is really going on behind the scenes.
@ Ben Holz -- Definitely a fair point. However, reportedly he volunteered that he hadn't slept the night before to the press, when explaining his trip to Narita.
A small airline and it’s a publicity stunt and good marketing. Once they get larger, the CEO isn’t going to fly to every destination in the event of an irrop. There are also other CEOs I’m aware of who are big aviation geeks
It might be worth noting he probably had to fly the plane back otherwise they don’t have any aircraft for their TPE-LAX route which was delayed due to this. Apologizing to customers stranded in Japan was secondary ( not saying he should not do it.) Whole thing was poor planning and bad luck all combined together plus they are still a really small airlines at the moment. But either way he will attract a lot of scrutiny from regulator on many front since he’s the chairman.
I think this has more to do with China Airlines and EVA Air working behind the scenes with the CAA to “knock Starlux down a peg or two” than anything else. I’m sure they are bristling and the publicity Starlux has been receiving.
Part of this might be due to they don’t have any aircraft flying their TPE-LAX flight due to this. It’s already delayed at that point and he had to get the airplane black so this is not entirely a publicity stunt.
Either way it’s poor planning plus being a still very small airline together. He will get scrutinized by regulator no matter what he decide to do.
Never in my life had I thought I would hear the word "Chuigate", but here we go.
Extremely irresponsible and dangerous. no matter what he thinks of his capabilities a fuly calm and rested mind is needed to operate an airplane
Yep, I wouldn't say Taiwan companies have the leverage of say, a chaebol like Samsung has in South Korea, but they definitely have a lot more leverage than a major company in the West. This is clearly a PR counterattack on Starlux.
Sounds like a smear campaign. Nothing needs to come out of this "investigation", EVA just needs to pressure the Taiwanese regulators to start an "investigation" and the damage would already be done, regardless of whether there's any wrongdoing in the end.
As many great things that can be said for Taiwan, it’s known for having a horrendously dismissive safety culture. Just look at how many major incidents China Airlines had in the 90s and early 2000s. Train accidents and building collapses are also far more common than in most similarly developed countries. So I wouldn’t be surprised if Starlux’s chairman has a bit of a laid back attitude about fatigue…
Paging the brainwashed @Mo @David @ooyaboon to blindly defend your cult.
What a joke!!!!! WOW !!!! (again and again)
Starlux operating like an amatuer LCC.
It's not like this is the chairman's first exposure to an airline.
Starlux just fall from very interesting airline to try down to another wanna be player, right above those real fictitious startups.
Bring em on haters 🙂
Now on the other hand, am I sensing some incumbent dark political motive targeting the outcast?
I think there might be a concerted effort behind the scenes by CI and EVA to attack Starlux’s image. Which makes sense if I were them, but honestly is a bit disappointing, because I love everything about Starlux and wish them the best of success. They bring something new, cool, and special to the industry. I find this CEO being such a passionate AvGeek to be quite amusing and something you do not see at most airlines. As an AvGeek myself, I remember having those days where I would come up with my own fictional airline brands and then pretend like I was actually spotting their branding at the airport or flying one of their planes on my flight simulator. It is such a vibe.
Taking a 3-hour redeye to your duty station, then flying a 4h flight home is a total nothingburger. Smacks of an overactice bureaucracy.
With such an experienced and dedicated leader as Chairman Chang, I would fly Starlux and invest in its shares.
I'm sure it has a lot to do with Eva but Eva will soon have thier own nightmare PR problems. It turns out thier Eva Skymall bags are made by forced prison labour which means every flight into Canada can be delayed for search and seizure of goods made in violation of 9897.00 of Canada's custom laws. I understand him trying to make a good impression for Starlux but he needs to stop acting on impulse.
If a regular pilot has insomnia the night before, is that pilot banned from flying?
The guy is an egomanic. The airline won't be around for long. I dunno why you got a hardon for them.
Didn’t rest the night before a one sector flight back to Taipei? Welcome to the life of a pilot! Quite normal for pilot to position to an outport and immediately operate the return flight.
Yeah Starlux is so luxurious. I can't wait to fly their business class product from LAX next year.
I admire KW Chang's charismatic leadership and "televised" interviews. He shared an anecdote where he personally unclogged an airline toilet in flight (EVA). "It's my plane, therefore it is _my_ sh*t"