Taiwan airline under fire after delays cause passengers to sleep in terminal

台灣航空公司因延誤導致乘客在航廈內睡覺而遭受批評

Irate passengers accuse Starlux Airlines of lying, not providing food, water


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Starlux Airlines is facing backlash after a series of decisions caused passengers on two flights to spend the night without food and water at Japan’s Narita International Airport on Saturday (May 6).

A passenger named Sky Chen disclosed his experience on the Facebook group Complaints Communal (爆怨公社). He was originally scheduled to board flight JX803 at 3:45 p.m. when it was delayed to 4:20 p.m. without any explanation.

Passengers saw on the internet that two earlier flights had been delayed due to strong winds at Narita. The inbound JX800 had been rerouted to Nagoya while the outbound JX801, originally scheduled for boarding at 2 p.m., was unable to take off.

“At the time, everyone thought our flight was grounded due to the weather as well, so we continued waiting patiently,” Chen wrote.

However, at around 5:30 p.m., a Starlux representative announced that the company was planning to move passengers from flight JX801 to JX803. “Since the beginning, JX803 had not been delayed due to the weather, but rather for convenience. As (the airline) did not want to send another airplane to transport passengers on JX801, the time of passengers on JX803 was sacrificed so passengers on JX801 could be flown back together," Chen said.

Chen added that when passengers asked why the airline waited so long to make the announcement, the Starlux representative replied, “I gave the order, there’s nothing I can do if the ground crew did not say anything.”

He accused Starlux of not providing water or food after passengers boarded the plane at around 7 p.m. Then the airline announced that the original cabin crew exceeded its maximum working hours and a new crew was required, which would further delay take-off until 11 p.m. and midnight.

In a video Chen posted, angry passengers can be seen demanding an explanation from Starlux Airlines: “Where is the meal? Tell me! Why do you lie to us like this? We have put up with this again and again. We don’t want to do this, we’re not barbarians, but why did your ground crew manager lie to us? Not one of you are telling the truth! … You tell us ‘We’re handling it,’ how are you handling it?”

Passengers on JX803 were given meals at around 9:30 p.m., but those who boarded the plane with a ticket for JX801 were given sandwiches, according to Chen.

Although Starlux promised passengers a full refund, the cabin crew refused to let them off the plane, Chen wrote. Then at midnight, the flight was finally canceled due to the curfew at Narita airport.

Passengers were told they would need to spend the night at the terminal, and they were not allowed to leave the plane until sleeping bags arrived. At 1 a.m., Chen reported that passengers were finally let off the plane.

The airline initially announced that the plane would take off at 6 a.m. on Sunday (May 7), but then the departure time was changed to 8 a.m. Passengers were not given food, water, or vouchers in the morning and had to buy their own breakfast.

Starlux Airlines Chair Chang Kuo-wei (張國煒) appeared at Narita International Airport in the morning to apologize to passengers. He claimed in a video taken by a passenger named Tang Kai-wei (湯鎧瑋) that the delays were due to “really strong winds,” which did not convince the angry crowd.

According to Chang, JX803 was originally delayed due to a maintenance check of the aircraft. However, after the check was complete, the cabin crew had exceeded their working hours.

Chang added that Narita airport had initially agreed to postpone the start of its curfew until 12:30 a.m. but went back on its word. By then, immigration officers had left work, so the airline had no choice but to make passengers stay at the terminal.

Chang did not explain the decision to merge the two flights, which JX803 passengers attributed as the main cause of the chaos.

The problems in Japan caused Starlux's flights between Taipei and Los Angeles, JX002 and JX001, on Saturday and Sunday, to be canceled subsequently. However, the announcement was not made until 11:40 p.m., the scheduled departure time for JX002. Passengers already at Taoyuan International Airport for JX002 reportedly reacted angrily at the sudden announcement, while the Starlux representative was unable to promise when the flight would be rescheduled.