Taiwan's 3 major airlines to remove full Mandarin names from staff badges

台灣三大航空公司將移除員工識別證上的中文全名

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's three major international carriers are removing employees’ full Mandarin names from name badges amid concerns over harassment, doxxing, and personal safety.

The changes follow a campaign launched in August by the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union and other aviation labor unions to address frontline staff privacy and safety concerns, per ETtoday. Nearly 40% of workers surveyed said they had experienced harassment linked to name badges, while more than 98% supported removing full names.

The unions said displaying full names can expose an employee’s personal information, leading to social media harassment, unauthorized photography, online public shaming, threats, and stalking. Similar incidents have affected frontline workers in other service and transportation industries, including postal services, banking, restaurants, and railways.

The union cited an incident in which a customer photographed a postal clerk’s name and uploaded it to Threads to draw attention to the employee’s appearance, ETtoday reported. Such incidents have left frontline workers feeling harassed and fearful, while scammers have also impersonated postal counter staff to deceive members of the public.

Several unions had planned to hold a news conference at the labor ministry on Friday morning, per CNA. However, the unions canceled the event after China Airlines, EVA Air, and Starlux Airlines agreed to remove full names from work badges.

Tigerair Taiwan announced earlier this year that it would remove Mandarin surnames from work badges and use English aliases. China Airlines announced on Aug. 26 that its frontline staff badges would display Mandarin and English surnames alongside either an abbreviated English given name or a foreign-language alias, with replacement badges to be issued in phases starting in March 2027.

Mandarin Airlines, a subsidiary of China Airlines, will implement the same arrangement, CNA reported. EVA Air announced Thursday evening that it plans to issue replacement badges in the first half of 2027, displaying either a Mandarin or English surname alongside an employee identification number.

Starlux Airlines notified its enterprise union on Sept. 2 that it agreed to revise its badge format, although details had yet to be finalized. The airline said it plans to display flight attendants’ English aliases alongside their Mandarin surnames, without revealing their Mandarin given names, and will gradually issue replacement badges starting next year.