EVA Air spreads its wings with big network
By Ardimas Sasdi
Taiwan's privately-owned EVA Air, which began flights to Indonesia in July 1991, organized its first ever tour for Indonesian journalists to the company's maintenance facility and training center in Taipei from Aug. 19 to Aug. 22. Following an invitation by EVA Air The Jakarta Post reports on the airline's rapid ascent.
TAIPEI (JP): Top executives from private Taiwanese airline EVA Air may never have imagined that they would be able to meet their targets so quickly when the airline was established in March 1989.
Eight years later, the company founded with only one plane by Taiwanese transport giant Evergreen Group has a fleet of 27 jets, comprising freighters, passenger jets and Combis.
The company will add a MD-11 freighter and a B747-400 passenger jet in November, and another MD-11 the following month, lifting its number of planes to 30 by the end of the year.
Delivery of two B-747-400 passenger jets and two MD-11 freighters are expected next year.
"Within five years, or before 2002, our fleet will increase to 60, double the current number," EVA Air's junior vice president, K.W. Nieh, told Indonesian journalists visiting the company's maintenance facility and training center in Taoyuan, Taipei, late last week.
EVA Air -- The Wings of Taiwan -- flies to Asia, New Zealand, Australia, Europe and Central America. It also serves several cities in the United States, including San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, Anchorage, New York, Newark and Honolulu.
"We had only one plane when we launched the service in July 1991. Even McDonnel (Douglas) doubted our ability and gave only one old plane," Nieh remembered of the initial start-up difficulties.
Within a week of operation EVA Air had five routes, linking Taipei with Bangkok, Seoul, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta.
Two months later, the airline started flights between Taipei and Penang, and in November of that year opened a route to Vienna.
It continued to expand through this year -- EVA Air now serves more than 30 major business and leisure destinations on four continents.
The company employs 5,600 people and booked a US$7.2 million profit in 1995 and $17.08 million last year.
"For the year 1997 our revenue is predicted to reach $1.33 billion with a $23 million profit," Nieh said.
Service has always been on top of the airline's agenda, according to president of ERA Airways Corporations Richard Huang.
"From the beginning, our guiding philosophy has always been to make service the priority," he said. "This emphasis on service has made it one of EVA Air's dominant features."
Safety
EVA Air's commitment to safety and reliability has earned it accolades from passengers all over the world. It has a long list of major industry awards including Common Wealth Magazine's Best Airline award 1996, Travel Trade News', Best Airline award 1995, Austrian magazine Reisen's Best Seats and Friendliness award 1995, the Far East Economic Review's High Quality Services and Products award in 1994 and 1995, and the Australian Tourism Commission's prestigious Koala Award in 1994, 1995 and 1996.
The company's overriding concern for safety can be seen through its comprehensive controls and risk management strategies at every level of the organization.
A series of seminars and symposiums have been developed to sharpen staff's awareness of flight safety and to guard against negligence.
EVA Air also uses high technology flight monitoring and analysis equipment to standardize flight operations.
The airline built a 28,000-square-meter maintenance center at Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport at a cost of 3 billion Taiwan dollars ($107.1 million).
The company's maintenance center can accommodate three wide- bodied aircraft and has been certified by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. It also serves other airlines.
"We have received service orders from Philippines Airlines and other foreign airlines," planning section manager Wu-Cheng Own confirmed.
He said the maintenance center could handle all types of repair work, ranging from minor repairs, machine overhauls, or modifying passenger jets to cargo planes.
Training is emphasized for all staff -- considered the company's most valuable assets -- as the management is keen to ensure workers are updated with the latest developments in aviation knowledge and flight skills.
The program for international copilots consists of a ground course including aerodynamics, performance, meteorology, flight instrument, rules of the air and procedures, radiotelephony to reach ATPL level and full-flight simulator training.
EVA AIR's training center director, Ruby Lu said: "Pilots are trained here to allow them to obtain specific aircraft type ratings or to give them the decision-making and command skills required for promotion to line captain status. Senior pilot have to do training with minor guidance from instructors who always evaluate their work and then make performance appraisal on the course participants".
The 14-story training center at EVA Air's Taoyuan headquarters in Nankan also provides training for flight crew, flight attendants and ground staff to ensure proper procedures are followed.
The training center focuses on issues of morality, knowledge, health, cooperation and charm, and instructors and trainees live in together at the center to foster mutual respect and care.
Staff can also relax at the training center's comprehensive health and recreational facilities. Among these are a heated indoor swimming pool, gymnasium, aerobics center, table tennis room, outdoor tennis course, basketball courts, karaoke lounge and a beauty salon.
EVA Air's commitment to safety, service and training are impressive, but improvements are still needed in the flight crews' English, menu selections and provision of complementary keepsakes for passengers.