Taiwan’s major airlines drop full names from badges

Taiwan’s three major international airlines are removing employees’ full Mandarin names from name badges over concerns about 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 privacy and safety concerns among frontline staff, according to ETtoday. Nearly 40% of surveyed workers said they had experienced harassment related to name badges, while more than 98% supported removing full names.

The unions said displaying full names can expose employees to privacy risks, including social media harassment, unauthorised photography, online shaming, threats and stalking. Similar incidents have also affected frontline workers in other service and transportation industries, including postal services, banking, restaurants and railways, Taiwan News reported.

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 concerned for their safety, 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 Ministry of Labor today, according to CNA. However, the event was cancelled after China Airlines, EVA Air and Starlux Airlines agreed to remove employees’ full names from work badges.

Tigerair Taiwan announced earlier this year that it would remove Mandarin surnames from employees’ work badges and use English aliases instead. China Airlines announced on August 26 that frontline staff badges would display Mandarin and English surnames alongside either an abbreviated English given name or a foreign-language alias. Replacement badges will be issued in phases starting in March 2027.

Mandarin Airlines, a subsidiary of China Airlines, will adopt 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 along with an employee identification number.

Starlux Airlines notified its enterprise union on September 2 that it had agreed to revise its badge format, although the details had not yet been finalised. 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.