SOUTH KOREA: Korean Air CEO's Daughter Suspended For Behaving "foolish and reckless"

Korean Air has suspended its CEO's younger daughter while police investigate reports she threw water at an advertising executive in a meeting.

Cho Hyun-min, 36, a senior vice-president at the company, has apologised and called her behaviour "foolish and reckless".

She denies throwing water but admits to shoving the advertising agency manager.

She is the younger sister of Cho Hyun-ah - the airline heiress who infamously delayed a flight over a packet of nuts.

Ms Cho, who is also known as Emily, lost her temper because she was unhappy with answers to her questions during the meeting in Seoul last month.

The national carrier said in a statement it would take appropriate action after the police investigation was over.

Ms Cho issued an apology on her Facebook page on Thursday: "I have no words to say for my action that I should not have done under any circumstances."

The airline said on Monday she had thrown a cup of water on the floor, but not at anyone's face.

The owners of Korean Air have been under intense scrutiny since Ms Cho's sister, who is also known as Heather, famously flew into a rage when macadamia nuts were served to her in a bag and not on a plate on a Seoul-bound flight from New York in December 2014.

The case attracted intense attention in South Korea, reopening a national debate about the Korean business system, which is dominated by family firms known as chaebols.

The incident was eventually brought to trial, and Cho Hyun-ah was convicted of violating aviation safety, coercion and abuse of power in 2015.

An appeals court later reduced the one-year sentence to a suspended term, and she was released after five months in jail.

She recently returned to a management role at the firm's hotel wing.

Korean Air Lines Co., operating as Korean Air, is the largest airline and flag carrier of South Korea based on fleet size, international destinations and international flights.

The airline's global headquarters are located in Seoul, Republic of Korea. Korean Air was founded as Korean National Airlines in 1946. After several years of service and expansion, the airline was fully privatized in 1969.

Korean Air's international passenger division and related subsidiary cargo division together serve 127 cities in 44 countries, while its domestic division serves 12 destinations.

It is among the top 20 airlines in the world in terms of passengers carried and is also the top-ranked international cargo airline. Incheon International Airport serves as Korean Air's international hub.

Korean Air also maintains a satellite headquarters campus at Incheon. The majority of Korean Air's pilots, ground staff, and flight attendants are based in Seoul.

Korean Air is the parent company of Jin Air and is a founding member of the SkyTeam airline alliance. It was voted Asia's best airline by Business Traveler readers in 2012.

Korean Air was founded by the South Korean government in 1962 as Korean Air Lines to replace Korean National Airlines, which was founded in 1946.

On March 1, 1969, the Hanjin Transport Group took control of the airline. Long-haul freight operations were introduced on April 26, 1971, followed by passenger services to Los Angeles International Airport on April 19, 1972.

International flights to Hong Kong, Taiwan and Los Angeles were flown with Boeing 707s until the introduction of the Boeing 747 in 1973.

In 1973, the airline introduced Boeing 747s on its Pacific routes and started a European service to Paris, France using the 707 and then McDonnell Douglas DC-10.

In 1975, the airline became one of the earliest Asian airlines to operate Airbus aircraft with the purchase of three Airbus A300s, which were put into immediate service on Asian routes.

Since South Korean aircraft were prohibited from flying in the airspace of North Korea and the Soviet Union at the time, the European routes had to be designed eastbound from South Korea, such as Gimpo-Anchorage-Paris

A blue-top, silver and redesigned livery with a new corporate Korean Air logo featuring a stylized Taegeuk design was introduced on March 1, 1984, and the airline's name changed to Korean Air from Korean Air Lines.

This livery was introduced on its Fokker F28 Fellowships. It was designed in cooperation between Korean Air and Boeing.

In the 1990s, Korean Air became the first airline to use the new McDonnell Douglas MD-11 to supplement its new fleet of Boeing 747-400 aircraft.

However, the MD-11 did not meet the airline's performance requirements and they were eventually converted to freighters.

Some older 747 aircraft were also converted for freight service.

In the 1980s, Korean Air's head office was in the KAL Building on Namdaemunno, Jung-gu, Seoul.

On June 5, 2007, Korean Air said that it would create a new low-cost carrier called Jin Air in Korea to compete with Korea's KTX high-speed railway network system, which offered cheaper fares and less stringent security procedures compared to air travel.

Jin Air started its scheduled passenger service from Seoul to Jeju on July 17, 2008. Korean Air announced that some of its 737s and A300s would be given to Jin Air.

By 2009, Korean Air's image had become more prestigious, differing from the airline's late-1990s image, which had been tarnished by several fatal accidents.

In mid-2010, a co-marketing deal with games company Blizzard Entertainment sent a 747-400 and a 737-900 taking to the skies wrapped in StarCraft II branding.

In August 2010, Korean Air announced heavy second-quarter losses despite record high revenue. In August 2010, Hanjin Group, the parent of Korean, opened a new cargo terminal at Navoi in Uzbekistan, which would become a cargo hub with regular Incheon-Navoi-Milan flights.

Korean Air owns five hotels: two KAL hotels on Jeju island, the Hyatt in Incheon; Waikiki Resort in Hawaii and a hotel/office building called the Wilshire Grand Tower which is being redeveloped.

This building in downtown Los Angeles will house the largest InterContinental Hotel in the Americas in what will be the tallest building in Los Angeles.

In 2013, Korean Air acquired a 44% stake in Czech Airlines. It sold the stake in October 2017.

Korean Air's headquarters, the Korean Air Operations Center, is located in Gonghang-dong, Gangseo-gu in Seoul. Korean Air also has offices at Gimpo International Airport in Seoul.

Korean Air's other hubs are at Jeju International Airport, Jeju and Gimhae International Airport, Busan. The maintenance facilities are located in Gimhae International Airport.

Korean Air serves 114 international destinations in 50 countries on 6 continents, excluding codeshares. The airlines's international hub is Incheon International Airport, most important airport in Korea.

The airline also flies 13 domestic destinations within South Korea. KAL operates between Incheon and 22 cities in mainland China, and along with Asiana Airlines, it is one of the two largest foreign airlines to operate into the People's Republic of China.

Korean Air codeshares with these airlines:

- Aeroflot
- Aerolíneas Argentinas
- Aeroméxico
- Air Europa
- Air France (Joint Venture Partner)
- Air Seychelles
- Air Tahiti Nui
- Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air
- Alitalia
- American Airlines (Oneworld)
- China Airlines
- China Eastern Airlines
- China Southern Airlines
- Czech Airlines
- Delta Air Lines (Joint Venture Partner)
- Emirates
- Etihad Airways (Stragic Partner)
- Garuda Indonesia
- Gol Transportes Aereos
- Hainan Airlines
- Hawaiian Airlines
- Japan Airlines (Oneworld)
- Jet Airways
- Jin Air (Korean Air Subsidiary)
- Kenya Airways
- KLM
- LATAM Chile (Oneworld)
- LATAM Perú (Oneworld)
- Malaysia Airlines (Oneworld)
- MIAT Mongolian Airlines
- Myanmar Airways International
- Saudia
- Shanghai Airlines
- Uzbekistan Airways
- Vietnam Airlines
- WestJet
- XiamenAir

Korean Air is also an airline partner of Skywards, the frequent-flyer program for Emirates. Skywards members can earn miles for flying Korean Air and can redeem miles for free flights.

Korean Air fleet consists of the following aircraft:

- Korean Air Airbus A330-200 - 8

- Airbus A330-300 - 21

- Airbus A380-800 - 10

- Boeing 737-800 - 14

- Boeing 737-900 - 16

- Boeing 737-900ER - 6

- Boeing 747-8I - 10

- Boeing 777-200ER - 14

- Boeing 777-300 - 4

- Boeing 777-300ER - 23

- Boeing 787-9 - 5

- Bombardier CS300 - 4

Korean Air Cargo fleet

- Boeing 747-400ERF - 4

- Boeing 747-400F - 3

- Boeing 747-8F - 7

- Boeing 777F - 12

Korean Air business jet fleet

- Boeing BBJ1 - 2

- Boeing 787-8 - 1

- Bombardier Global Express XRS - 2

- Gulfstream G650ER - 1

Korean Air helicopter fleet

- Eurocopter EC-135 - 5

- Sikorsky S-76+ - 1

- Total Fleet - 173

Korean Air has made the following orders:

- Airbus A321neo - 30

- Boeing 737 MAX 8 - 30

- Boeing 777-300ER - 7

- Boeing 787-9 - 5

- Bombardier CS300 - 6

- Total Orders - 78

Korean Air offers four types of first class, three types of business (Prestige) class, and two types of economy class.

Prestige Class seats include Prestige Sleeper seats on all Boeing 777-300ERs and Airbus A380s, as well as 777-200ER aircraft that feature Kosmo Suites seats.

Prestige Plus seats on most of the Boeing 777-200ER fleet, most of the Boeing 747-400 fleet, and one Boeing 777-300; and old Prestige Class seats.

Prestige Sleeper seats recline to 180 degrees, while Prestige Plus seats recline up to 172 degrees. Old Prestige Class seats recline up to only 138 degrees, although these seats are being phased out except for on Boeing 737 aircraft.

Economy Class seats recline up to 121 degrees. A new type of seat called New Economy Class is being installed on all Boeing 777-300ER and Boeing 777-200ER aircraft with Kosmo Suites, all Boeing 777-300 aircraft.

Some Airbus A330-300 aircraft, some Airbus A330-200 aircraft, the Airbus A380 aircraft factory installed, and brand new Boeing 747-8i aircraft.

The Kosmo Suites seats and the Prestige Sleeper seats were first introduced in the Boeing 777-300ERs in May 2009. Both seats could stretch to 180 degrees, and became more private than seats before.

The Korean Air Airbus A380-800 aircraft also feature an inflight bar called the Celestial Bar in partnership with Absolut Vodka, featuring a range of Absolut cocktails, along with an integrated lounge space.

It is located on the upper deck Business Class cabin, and is accessible only to First and Prestige class passengers.

On the lower deck of the A380, there is a Lancome designed duty-free shop located in the rear of the cabin that is available to all passengers.

SKYPASS is the frequent-flyer program of Korean Air. SKYPASS also refers to the blue card which Korean Air frequent-flyers are given. The motto of SKYPASS is - Beyond your Imagination.

The program's elite levels are comparable to those of other airlines' frequent-flyer programs, requiring members to fly 30,000 miles per two-year cycle - initial entry into this level requires 50,000 miles.

Qualification for the highest level is based on lifetime flight miles, requiring a customer to fly 1 million miles for Million Miler, which is the highest elite status or 500,000 miles for Morning Calm Premium, which comes second.

Both membership levels are eligible for SkyTeam Elite Plus privileges. Membership in these levels are granted for life.

Korean Air is also involved in aerospace research and manufacturing.

The division, known as the Korean Air Aerospace Division (KAL-ASD), manufactures licensed versions of the MD Helicopters MD 500 and Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.

As well as the Northrop F-5E/F Tiger II fighter aircraft, the aft fuselage and wings for the KF-16 fighter aircraft manufactured by Korean Aerospace Industries and parts for various commercial aircraft including the Boeing 737, Boeing 747, Boeing 777 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner; and the Airbus A330 and Airbus A380.

In 1991 the division designed and flew the Korean Air Chang-Gong 91 light aircraft.

KAA also provides aircraft maintenance support for the United States Department of Defense in Asia and maintains a research division with focuses on launch vehicles, satellites, commercial aircraft, military aircraft, helicopters and simulation systems.

In October 2012, a development deal between Bombardier Aerospace and a government-led South Korean consortium was announced, aiming to develop a 90-seat turboprop regional airliner, targeting a 2019 launch date.

The consortium would include Korea Aerospace Industries and Korean Air Lines.

Korean Air had many fatal accidents between 1970 and 1999, during which time 16 aircraft were written off in serious incidents and accidents with the loss of 700 lives.

Two Korean Air aircraft were shot down by the Soviet Union, including Korean Air Lines Flight 007 on September 1, 1983 that was carrying 269 people, including a sitting U.S. Congressman, Larry McDonald.

The last fatal passenger incident was the Korean Air Flight 801 crash in 1997, which killed 228 people. The last crew fatality was in the crash of Korean Air Cargo Flight 8509 in December 1999.

Korean Air has been cited as one of the examples of the South Korean chaebol system, wherein corporate conglomerates, established with government support, overreach diverse branches of industry.

For much of the time between the foundation of Korean Air as Korean National Airlines in 1946 and the foundation of Asiana Airlines in 1988, Korean Air was the only airline operating in South Korea.

The process of privatization of Korean National Airlines in 1969 was supported by Park Chung-hee, the South Korean military general-president who seized power of the country through a military coup d'état; and the monopoly of the airline was secured for two decades.

After widening the Jaebeol branches, the subsidiary corporations of Korean Air include marine and overland transportation businesses, hotels and real estate among others; and the previous branches included heavy industry, passenger transportation, construction and a stockbroking business.

The nature of the South Korean chaebeol system involves nepotism. A series of incidents involving Korean Air in 2000s have revealed an ugly side of the culture within chaebeols, South Korean’s giant family-run conglomerates.

Cho Hyun-Ah, also known as Heather Cho, is the daughter of the chairman Cho Yang-ho. She resigned from some of her duties in late 2014 after she ordered a Korean Air jet to return to the gate to allow a flight attendant to be removed from the aircraft.

The attendant had served Cho nuts in a bag instead of on a plate. As a result of further fallout, Cho Hyun-Ah was later arrested by Korean authorities for violating South Korea's aviation safety laws.

Fly With Korean Air



Tourism Observer

CHINA: South Korea And China Misunderstandings, Airlines Most Affected

Escalating tensions between China and South Korea over the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system are now threatening to engulf air travel as some carriers start to suspend popular services between the two countries.

Eastar Jet, a South Korean budget airline, said on its website that flights from Cheongju to China’s Harbin, Ningbo and Jinjiang will be stopped temporarily starting as early as March 15 through Oct. 28 because of “worsening relations.”

Seoul-based Jin Air, a unit of Korean Air Lines Co., said it is reviewing its flights from Jeju to Shanghai and Xian and preemptively restricted bookings to avoid disruptions.

Spring Airlines Co., China’s biggest budget carrier, canceled flights from Ningbo to Jeju March 15 through 26, and a spokesman said it was due to “changing market conditions.”

Jeju Air, a Korean low-cost operator, said the airline’s request for charter flight in March to Ordos in Inner Mongolia was rejected by the Chinese authorities.

Travel curbs imposed by China on mainlanders with plans for a vacation in South Korea are likely to cut revenue at airlines, travel agencies, package tour operators and cruises by about $5 billion, according to estimates by Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The China National Tourism Administration verbally ordered local travel agencies to stop selling tours to South Korea starting March 15, the state-run Korea Tourism Organization said last week.

More than 8 million Chinese visited South Korea last year and Chinese make up 85 percent of tourists to the resort island of Jeju.

Some sea-cruise operators are also pulling back. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. said Thursday on its Chinese website that it will cancel port calls to South Korea and replace them with some in Japan for vessels that sail as early as March 17.

Costa Cruises, controlled by Carnival Corp., is also scrapping calls to South Korean ports and re-routing them to Japan.

China is concerned that the U.S. missile shield — called Thaad — will alter the balance of power in the region, and is lashing out by squeezing South Korean businesses on its soil and by discouraging citizens from traveling to popular tourist destinations such as Jeju Island. The Lotte Group, the Korean conglomerate that offered land to house Thaad, said this week that as many as 55 of its retail stores in China were suspended.

The U.S. military said this week that the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system was aimed solely at defending Seoul against potential missile attacks by North Korea.

Spring Air’s spokesman said tourism and airlines should be “markedly affected” by the ongoing situation between China and South Korea, adding the carrier’s schedule after March 26, when the summer-autumn flight season kicks off, will be adjusted accordingly.


However, the stoppage of services wasn’t widespread. China Eastern Airlines Corp. said ticket sales to South Korea remain normal.

In response to the shuttering of Lotte Mart’s businesses in China, the foreign ministry in Beijing said Monday that the government welcomes “the investment and operation of foreign companies” and protects their “lawful rights and interests in accordance with the law, as long as their businesses abide by laws and regulations.”

South Korean Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan said March 5, he was “deeply concerned about the measures taken in China,” and that the government will seek recourse in international law should China violate its trade commitments.

SOUTH KOREA: Korean Air Pilots Sue Airline Chairman After He Claimed 'flying is easier than driving a car'

Pilots at Korean Air are suing its chairman Cho Yang-Ho after he belittled their role in a post on social media.

Their union has filed a lawsuit to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office for contempt and defamation.

In March, the chairman allegedly responded to a Korean Air pilot's Facebook post in which the pilot had detailed the complex procedures required to become a qualified commercial pilot.

"What pilots have to do is just to decide to go or not to go,Flying is done by autopilot, and the flying is easier than driving a car. Only in case of an emergency do we need pilots. You pilots are exaggerating too much," Cho wrote, according to South Korea's Yonhap News.

"Our honour was defamed and we were insulted by chairman Cho's comment," the union said, according to the report.

Pilots of South Korean carriers Asia Airline, Jin Air, and Jeju Air have backed the lawsuit and are demanding the government takes action over the comments.

SOUTH KOREA: Asiana Airlines And Korean Air Compete On 50 Routes

Asiana Airlines’ most recent new route launch was to Rome Fiumicino, a service that started on 30 June. This new service will face direct competition from both Alitalia and Korean Air. Out of the 79 routes Asiana serves non-stop from Seoul Incheon it faces head-to-head competition from at least two carriers on 43 of them, including Rome.

Asiana Airlines remains the second biggest carrier in South Korea after Korean Air. According to the airline’s latest quarterly performance report, at the end of March 2015 the Star Alliance member’s fleet comprised 73 passenger aircraft; 33 narrow-body A320-series aircraft (A320s and A321s), and 40 wide-body aircraft comprising 17 Airbus aircraft (two A380s and 15 A330s) and 23 Boeing aircraft (12 777s, seven 767s and four 747s). Since then, additional A380s have been delivered to the airline in May and June bringing the fleet to four aircraft. They are currently used on flights to Bangkok, Los Angeles and New York JFK.

The airline’s main base of operation is Seoul Incheon Airport from where it operates non-stop to 79 destinations, of which only one (Jeju) is a domestic route. Based on OAG data for the first week of August Asiana ranks as the 61st biggest airline in the world as measured by weekly seat capacity, moving up to 39th if we use ASKs (Available Seat Kilometres) as our metric. Using ASKs, which takes into account distance flown as well as total seat capacity, five of the airline’s top seven routes are to the US (shown in light green), with Los Angeles beating New York JFK to the top position.

According to the airline’s most recent quarterly financial report (for 2015 Q1) US routes account for 17.8% of the airline’s revenues. This is beaten by the 18.9% of revenues on Chinese routes (it serves 23 destinations in China from Seoul Incheon), and south-east Asian routes which account for one-quarter of all passenger revenue. Routes to Japan generate a further 14%, European routes 9%, while domestic routes only account for 8% of revenues.

Intense competition at Seoul Incheon
At Seoul Incheon, Korean Air is the leading carrier serving almost 100 destinations with non-stop flights (making it the fourth best connected airline hub in Asia) and accounting for 33% of weekly departing seats at the airport. Asiana’s services to almost 80 destinations give it a 24% share of seat capacity at the airport. Not surprisingly, the two carriers compete head-to-head on a significant number of routes, 49 in all. However, Asiana also competes against other carriers on a significant number of routes.

On only 14 of the 79 destinations served from Seoul Incheon does Asiana not face head-to-head competition from at least one other airline, and these routes only represent just over 3% of the airline’s ASKs from the airport. Asiana’s two biggest monopoly routes in terms of ASKs are Delhi and Jakarta which account for over half of the uncontested ASKs. On 22 routes Asiana faces just one carrier, while on 23 routes the level of competition increases to two carriers. On the remaining 20 routes there are at least three carriers competing directly, with the Hong Kong route having the highest level of competition at nine carriers.

Asiana’s most recent new route has been to Rome Fiumicino (launched 30 June) with Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, set to become the carrier’s newest destination on 8 August. The new weekly (Saturdays) service will complement the existing weekly (Tuesdays) service offered by Air Astana, with whom Asiana has a codeshare arrangement.

Asiana Airlines’ next new route to Astana starts on 8 August. The weekly service will complement the existing weekly service offered by Air Astana on which Asiana codeshares.

In the South Korean domestic market Asiana also ranks second behind Korean Air, with around 23% of seats and flights. Of the 10 domestic routes operated seven are from Jeju, which includes the high frequency route to Seoul Gimpo, which is served almost 200 times per week in each direction. This single route accounts for half of all Asiana’s domestic flights. Competition on the route is intense with Korean Air offering around 190 weekly flights each way, Jeju Airlines over 150, t’way air 100, Jin Air over 80 and Air Busan 35. Air Busan is the low-cost subsidiary of Asiana.


Asiana’s four A380s are configured with 495 seats in three classes. The first two aircraft were delivered in May and July 2014, with the most recent deliveries taking place in May and June of this year. The airline has orders for two additional aircraft. The aircraft are currently used on the US routes to Los Angeles and New York, as well as some Bangkok frequencies.