Asiana pilots tentatively accepts 2.5 percent wage increase

Asiana Airlines and its pilots’ union reached a tentative wage agreement, Korea’s second-largest carrier announced Wednesday. Asiana pilots tentatively accepted a 2.5 percent increase in basic pay, cash incentives and wider welfare benefits...

Asiana Airlines planes are parked at a ramp in Incheon International Airport on Sunday. [NEWS1]

Asiana Airlines and its pilots’ union reached a tentative wage agreement, Korea’s second-largest carrier announced Wednesday.

Asiana pilots tentatively accepted a 2.5 percent increase in basic pay, cash incentives and wider welfare benefits proposed by management. The pilots’ union initially demanded a 10 percent increase in basic pay.

The standoff between the pilots’ union and its company came to a stalemate at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, more than a month since its start on June 7.

The union planned to stage a full walkout from July 24, its first strike in 18 years, raising woes over air travel supply and demand during the peak summer season.

Two international and 10 domestic flights had been canceled during the pilots’ work-to-rule protest.

A work-to-rule protest is a protest in which employees do exactly what is stipulated in their contract, and nothing more, in order to slow down production.

The pilots’ union will decide whether to lift all counter-actions after putting the temporary deal to a vote among union members next month.

BY SOHN DONG-JOO [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]