EVA Air COVID-19 Scandal
Widens After Four Flight Attendants and Four Pilots Sacked
EVA Air has admitted that it has sacked a
total of four flight attendants and four pilots for breaking COVID-19 epidemic
control measures, while a fifth pilot remains under investigation. The
Taiwan-based airline made the admission following the revelation that one of the
sacked pilots broke a 250 day COVID-19 free streak in the country when he
brought the virus back from an international layover and infected a local
woman.
The incident caused an outcry in Taiwan
where health officials have managed, so far, to keep a lid on the novel
Coronavirus with fewer than 800 cases so far detected since the pandemic started
in March.
“The company has always attached great
importance to discipline, and the vast majority of crew members on the front
line of duty face transportation and epidemic prevention tasks with a cautious
and serious attitude,” the airline said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Regrettably, since March, there are still
4 flight attendants and 4 pilots who have violated the epidemic prevention
regulations. The company has removed all of them from their posts, as an
example,” the statement continued.
As a result of the sacked New Zealand
pilot’s action, EVA Air said it would now clamp down even further on
international aircrew in an attempt to avoid a repeat occurrence. A spokesperson
said flight attendants and pilots would now be required to wear face masks,
goggles and gloves whenever they leave their hotel room in an international
destination, although crew would be encouraged to shelter in place during their
layovers.
In fact, the airline said it was now
working with hotels in certain destinations to record the movements of its crew
to ensure they don’t leave their hotel rooms or have visitors stay over. In many
countries, there are no restrictions placed on aircrew which is in accordance
with official advice from the World Health Organization (WHO).
EVA Air believes the New Zealand pilot was
infected during a layover and then failed to comply with strict self-isolation
rules on his return to Taipei. The pilot is now known to have visited crowded
public spaces while infectious but lied to contract tracers in what’s believed
to have been an attempt to cover up for the fact that he broke quarantine
rules.
Since that incident, the airline will now
require crew to take a COVID-19 test before being released from home quarantine.
Aircrew are already only permitted to operate a maximum of two international
flights that require a layover per month because of the strict quarantine
rules.
In addition, pilots will be required to
wear a face mask at all times during a flight unless they are actively eating or
drinking. Only one pilot at a time will be permitted to remove their face mask
to eat or drink.
In contrast, many airlines permit pilots to
remove their face masks on the flight deck because wearing a mask could
interfere with aircraft operation and communication.
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