Korean airline pilots and flight attendants take action

Unionised pilots at Korean Air, South Korea’s flagship airline, are conducting a work-to-rule in a dispute over a new work agreement. While Korean Pilots Union (KPU) members had voted for strike action, the union used a district court injunction lodged by the carrier to restrict industrial action to work bans.

The KPU and the New Korean Air Pilots Union are demanding a 37 percent pay rise. The company has offered just 1.9 percent. Pilots want pay parity with their colleagues in other Asian airlines. According to the unions, 140 pilots left last year to join other companies in China and the Middle East where salaries are up to three times higher.

Meanwhile, flight attendants of Korea’s second-largest carrier, Asiana Airlines, are in dispute over restructuring plans that will cut the number of flight attendants per flight. Asiana Airlines Labor Union members have been staging a sit-in protest outside the carrier’s main hangar at Gimpo International Airport since January 3.