Korean Air named best operator of Airbus A220

The airline is the first to receive the honor for operations of the Airbus A220

Cho Won-tae, chairman of Korean Air, receives the Airbus A220 Best Operational Excellence 2021 award from Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury. (provided by Korean Air)

Korean Air received the Airbus A220 Best Operational Excellence 2021 award at the annual gathering of the International Air Transport Association in Boston on Monday, the airline announced Tuesday.

Chairman of Korean Air Cho Won-tae accepted the award in person at the meeting.

Airbus selects a best operator for its company’s models every two years based on an assessment of on-time operation performance. This was the first time a best operator was selected for the A220.

Korean Air’s on-time operation performance for the A220 was calculated at 99.63% between August 2020 and July 2021. The global average on-time performance for the A220 was around 99%.

On-time performance is considered an indicator of an airline’s aircraft operation capabilities. It is calculated by dividing the number of instances where aircraft took off within 15 minutes of the scheduled time — without delays or cancellations due to maintenance issues — by the total number of flights.

A total of 174 A220 aircraft are currently being operated by 11 airlines, with Korean Air accounting for 10 of them.

“The high on-time performance rate means there are few flights delayed or canceled due to maintenance reasons,” Korean Air explained. “That signifies a high level of passenger services and safety thanks to thorough preventive maintenance and safety management ahead of time.”

Korean Air was also named the 2021 Airline of the Year as selected by the global air transportation publication Air Transport World. The prize has been described as the “Oscar of the aviation world.”

By Kim Jae-seob, senior staff writer

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