I am interested in reading about any experiences you have had with China Airlines from LAX--both good or bad.

Are you thinking of flying with them? Perhaps you could have your suicidal feelings treated and then fly with a good airline.

george> not my preferred airline by a long way. if you're traveling to taipei from lax, singapore airlines has a nonstop flight. or you could do cathay pacific with a transfer at hk. both airlines have a much better safety record and great service.

Are you flying coach or business? I've used their Dynasty (business) class service and found it to be excellent. As far as safety goes, I seem to recall Singapore airlines had a fatal accident not so long ago, pilot went down the wrong runway.

as opposed to how many from China Airlines? hmm... where do we start? there was the China Airlines plane that went down the taxiway instead of the runway in Anchorage last month, the crash in HK in 1999, another crash in Taipei in 1998...

x,<BR>Start here: http://www.airsafe.com/events/regions/asia.htm

I haven't looked at the site Les mentions above, but to worry about air safety, even in the context of recent events, isn't terribly logical if you don't worry about walking down the street at home. This is nearly 200 times more dangerous than flying, which is actually one of the safest ways you can spend your time, and that's true of flying with China Airlines, despite its poor safety record compared to other airlines.<BR><BR>You are thousands of time more likely to die on a bus trip, crossing the road, or doing many other things you don't think twice about either at home or at your destination. There's no point in adding to the risk, of course, but flying China Airlines won't make a significant difference.<BR><BR>If you want to get a look at the odds of not making it to your destination, go to:<BR><BR>http://www.amigoingdown.com/<BR><BR>and enter the flight details.<BR><BR>I don't vouch for the accuracy of their calculations, but they claim to derive them from actual accident statistics.<BR><BR>Incidentally, if you are going to Taipei, or the other Asian destinations with a stop in Taipei, I'd recommend EVA, the other Taiwanese international carrier (although registered in Portland, Oregon, I believe).<BR><BR>Peter N-H<BR>http://members.axion.net/~pnh/China.html

Thank you, Peter. That was the point I was trying to make although you stated it much better than I did. Ultimately, it didn't really matter to the 200+ passengers on board that Singapore Airlines flight that crashed whether that airline had a spotless safety record, did it? I'm not trying to pick on Singapore - I'm sure they are a great airline from what I hear - just using it as an example since a previous poster mentioned them. The fact is we are all much more likely to die on our daily commute to work than on any commercial airline.