300 Flights Cancelled Yesterday

As flights cancelled due to the pilot’s union of Korean Air (KAL) and the union of Asiana Airlines went on strike yesterday, passengers experienced inconvenience. The strike by the pilot’s union of the KAL was prolonged due to the emotional conflict between the labor-management with regard to the legal action to the union leaders along with the differences in perspective on the issues. The labor-management of the KAL negotiated the allowance increase and the formation of the `flight service regulation review committee` yesterday at the Suhsomoon office building of the KAL, Jung Ku, Seoul. However, the labor-management did not come to the terms because the labor union insisted the equal number of the labor-management participants in the `flight service regulation review committee`, while the management rejected the demand. The management filed a suit against the executives of the union for the illegal strike and the obstruction of the business. The Supreme Prosecutor’s Office requested the court to issue a warrant for the arrest of 14 union leaders, including the chair of the union committee Lee Sung-Jae.

After rejecting the settlement proposal, the labor union of Asiana Airlines began the negotiation at 10:45 p.m. on 11th. However, they did not come to an agreement and launched strike yesterday.

Starting with the cancellation of KE 621 to Manila at 8:30 a.m., many other departing flights were cancelled. In terms of the domestic flight, massive cancellation of the flights, such as 0Z8801 of the Asiana Airlines, took place. As the 300 flights were cancelled, the two airlines are estimated to have lost 14.6 billion won for the day.

Meanwhile, the Public Security Department of the Supreme Prosecutor`s Office launched an arrest of the 14 leaders of the pilot’s union of the KAL with an arrest warrant issued from the court. A prosecutor said that ``the strike by the pilot’s union of the KAL is illegal since it violated the administrative guidance of the central labor committee. Regardless of a complaint from the company, we will arrest the union leaders and take legal action.`` The prosecutor’s office said that it would detain and investigate some of the union leaders. However, the prosecutor’s office said that the strike by the labor union of the Asiana Airlines is not illegal since it applied for the adjustment and other necessary procedures. The prosecutor’s office also said that other unions, which participated in a nationwide strike, were under investigation despite their involvement in the illegal.

jinhup@donga.com