It's hard to give you a correct or one straight answer. I don't find the greatest source of pride in either of the three airlines currently serving. While the JX supporters may be the loudest, but the frequent flyers are not at JX... they are at BR (and some in CI)... If you want the most correct answer, it would be the cheapest alternative (the LCCs). I have met enough locals who head out every weekend to Japan, Korea, HK, Macau, Vietnam, Thailand or Philippines and they opt for the cheapest ticket possible.

I used moondog's data and elaborated a little and posted on a thread in Taiwanese BBS called PTT and got lots of hate comments.

K Chang's idea of going for luxury, web buzz, co-branding works for the youngsters. It's one way to gain popularity in a quick span, but there are downsides. These youngsters will help JX for publicity, but that publicity can be good or bad. They might be able to take a flight or two during peak season in the summer, or get some cheap award tickets off Alaska, but they are not going to be the business market that an airline really needs to survive. They don't have the $ for business class and they don't have fly enough frequencies like the wage slave in a company. They also drive some customers away because they feel some passengers are expecting too much from they so-loved airlines (when most are just expecting standards from BR/CI). They tell these customers to shut up on the web. JX has enough pax, you are not needed.

JX wanted to put itself as the Emirates of Taiwan, but there are so many faults and service failures that I don't find it great to be associated with. I do like the idea of having another challenger in the market cause the overall ticket prices should drop, but I am also a very logical person that doesn't go chase stars everyday. I would say they probably captured 50% of the 20-30 year old and 30% of the 30-40 year old? I mean I will have my first flight with them next May on an AS ticketed flight (and a short one), but I am not going out of the way to pay a premium to fly them. Plus, once their new advantage goes away (coming soon in 2026 when CI drops 333/738), it's hard to convince people to not take CI when they are the same price range (and JX's FFP is a disaster).

Yes, JX is a source of pride for it's crazy supporters (especially in Taiwan). It's like a religion for some of them. Nothing can fault JX, we are all sour grapes. I have yet to find these populations outside of Taiwan. Maybe these crazy supporters in Taiwan are hired by Starlux? I have no idea.

My friends who head back once or twice a year from LA have opt for ONT the past couple years. Some of them do fathom the idea of wanting JX to come to ONT, but if JX is not at ONT, they still opt for ONT (so if JX is flying ONT, CI might lose quite some amount of sales). The LA traffic is just a no-no for some of them. They don't want to drive 1-1.5 hours just to be stuck in the horseshoe for another 30 min (especially TBIT is in the center of it, no way of avoiding) and another 1-1.5 hours going back for the driver. My relatives also opt for ONT. They don't head to LAX unless absolutely necessary (going to Europe). It appears that JX is staying at LAX for that second daily, so no ONT in the near future.

However, if there is a significant discount at LAX (or simply just the basic cheap seats are still available there), some people do head to LAX. While the Taiwanese are not that sensitive to prices like the VIPs, they do still care. I still have friends who will take CI 5 or BR 5 because those day time tickets are 50-100 cheaper than the night time flights. ONT only fits the equation cause it saves time and you don't lose a day (cause it's a night flight), but if the cheapest booking is still available at LAX and ONT is 200 more expensive cause the cheapest booking is sold out, they will head to LAX.

I feel the younger Taiwanese in Taiwan don't care as much (or it's being pictured this way). Taiwan bound tickets are more expensive than Foreign stations (at least on the LAX/SFO/SEA destination we have been observing), so it's likely more Taiwanese are buying JX tickets from Taiwan. For the local markets here in the US, JX has been doing lots of promotions to get the passengers, but they can't compete UA in SFO. UA has been and still is the cheapest options for SFO. It seems like they are doing okay at LAX (plus CI isn't doing a fare war atm).

There is also another group, probably my generations, who are now in the 30-40s living in bay area and LA, who will buy the business class ticket directly. Unlike their parents who always opt for the cheapest possible and still fly Economy when they were already 50, these younger Taiwanese are okay with 5k once a year in the summer. They make enough. They are willing to pay. However, if they are paying that premium for the flight, you better deliver. I have some unhappy friends who were screwed by JX because of aircraft rotations and they say they will not fly JX again (I am assuming at least not the coming years or till they get screwed by CI/BR). They gave JX a chance and their time was not valued by JX. They are going back to BR next year.