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Cho Yang-ho

Cho Yang-ho, chairman of the Hanjin Group, has stirred up controversy with a recent comment on the Facebook page of a pilot for Korean Air (an affiliate of Hanjin). Cho suggested that pilots should not be complaining about their workload, since all they have to do is decide whether or not to fly.

On Mar. 13, a pilot at the airline surnamed Kim added a post to his Facebook page explaining the work that pilots do before a flight. The post was titled, “What do you think passenger jet pilots check before a flight?”

“You wrote a long list of technical terms, but 99% of them aren’t new - they’re things the flight manager briefs you on. And changes in the weather are analyzed by the operations center,” Cho wrote in his comment. “All pilots have to do is decide whether or not to go. What‘s so hard about that? You’re flying on autopilot, which is easier than driving a car.”

“Pilots are only needed in a real emergency. Your bragging has really gone too far - it‘s laughable. You make it sound like you’re Lindbergh making the first crossing of the Atlantic. Please don‘t bring shame to other pilots, most of whom focus on flying their planes,” Cho added.

Cho’s comment is still posted on Kim‘s Facebook page.

The controversy has been growing as pilots have shared screenshots of Cho’s comment.

“With this happening just a year after the ‘nut rage’ incident, we’re concerned that this will damage the company’s image even more,” said a source at the Korean Air pilots, before making an official response.

The kerfuffle has perplexed management at Korean Air.

“Chairman Cho used the social media communication channel of Facebook to state his opinion, grounded in his long years of experience working in aviation, that the working environment of pilots has been greatly improved by recent developments in high-tech flight equipment and the support of flight control centers,” Korean Air said.

Cho’s comment appears to have been triggered by a dispute with pilots who are engaged in a legal labor action following a breakdown in wage negotiations.

At the beginning of the month, Korean Air fired a pilot surnamed Park who had refused to fly, in keeping with a regulation banning 12 consecutive hours of work in a 24-hour period. On Mar. 16, a meeting of the company’s qualification assessment board will be held, at which the company intends to take disciplinary action against 20 or so pilots who have put stickers about the labor action on their bags.

By Kim Mi-young, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]