The pilot union of Korean Air is struggling with the company’s management, calling for a wage raise by 51 million won, according to local media outlets.
According to the aviation industry, after the negotiation between the management and labor broke down recently, the union sent a petition for mediation to the National Labor Relations Commission in December. It is also slated to go on strike if the vote on the strike is passed.
If the vote is passed, the strike will be carried out in 11 years since 2005 when Korean Air lost around 260 billion won from the walkout.
The current annual pay of Korean Air's pilots stands at around 140 million won, according to the firm. The caption of the pilots gets 180 million won.
The reason behind their call for pay raise is Chinese airlines are aggressively courting the local pilots with higher wages, according to industry watchers. The Chinese firms reportedly proposed salary double their current wages.
Last year alone, 122 out of 2,500 Korean Air's pilots left the company, seven times the figure of the previous year, which was 16. The situation of its company Asiana Airline is no different. 45 pilots of Asiana Airline quit their jobs last year, double the figure of 2014's 21 pilots.
