Problems at China Airlines

Founded in 1959, CAL was the flagship carrier of the Republic of China (ROC). However, it was not completely state-owned. The China Aviation Development Foundation⁵ (CADF) had a nearly 54 percent stake in CAL. The airline faced turbulence in its initial years of operations. Its poor safety record in the 1990s severely tarnished its brand image besides lowering passenger traffic. Analysts felt that faulty pilot recruitment policies, lax maintenance systems, high cost operational structure, inefficient corporate culture, etc. had only added to its troubles. Moreover, the strained political relations between mainland China and Taiwan, which prohibited the airline from launching flights to routes in China, made things worse for it.