Korean Air has recently dismissed its executive director in charge of managing pilots. Hwang Chul, head of the flight operations department, was reassigned to a part-time advisor position, according to the aviation industry on August 24.
Hwang Chul headed up the flight operations department for over four and a half years after he assumed the post in early 2012. Given that the average tenure of a flight operations head is two years or so, Hwang had been highly trusted among those in the upper and lower echelons of the nation’s largest carrier.
Hwang, however, stepped down from the post six months after a periodic management reshuffle carried out in February.
Some think that Hwang was probably held accountable for numerous pilots being hired away by Chinese airlines while others believe that the brain drain resulted from an outburst of pilots’ festering grievances against Korean Air in the wake of the “nut rage” incident.
There was also controversy over Korean Air sending Air Force pilots an email dissuading them from working for budget carriers after completing their military service.
A Korean Air personnel official sent nearly 60 Air Force pilots email saying, “I’ve heard that some of you are considering working for Chinese airlines or low-cost carriers in the hope of becoming a captain at an earlier date. If so, low-cost carriers cannot be the right answer. I advise those opting for low-cost carriers to go to Asiana Airlines instead.”
Meanwhile, an outgoing Korean Air pilot posted an article on Korean Air’s online message board to give Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho a piece of advice. The pilot wrote that the management wasn’t sympathetic to pilots and employees suffering from the aftermath of the “nut rage” scandal.
