Korean Air, Asiana merger faces turbulence as pilot unions challenge seniority changes

As Korean Air and Asiana Airlines are expected to become a unified carrier in roughly six months, a bitter dispute over how to merge their pilot seniority lists has emerged as one of the biggest obstacles to integration.

Aircrafts are taking off from the Incheon International Airport on April 16. [NEWS1]

As Korean Air and Asiana Airlines are expected to become a unified carrier in roughly six months, a bitter dispute over how to merge their pilot seniority lists has emerged as one of the biggest obstacles to integration, with both sides threatening legal action and a strike vote already passed.

Seniority determines the order of promotions to captain, route assignments and pay for pilots in Korea. The stakes are high enough that even a single place lost in the combined ranking can delay a pilot's promotion to captain by years. But as they must now merge into a single shared ranking, tensions have grown so raw that pilots on both sides reportedly say they do not want to share a cockpit with their counterparts.

Korean Air and Asiana Airlines are set to sign the formal merger contract on Thursday, under which Korean Air will assume all of Asiana Airlines’ assets, liabilities, rights and obligations. The merger was pushed forward as part of a government-led restructuring of the aviation industry following the Covid-19 pandemic.

The conflict among pilots ignited when Asiana Pilot Union head Choi Do-sung posted on the union's website on May 7, suggesting that Asiana pilots were more capable than their Korean Air peers. His argument rested on a key difference in hiring standards: Korean Air requires at least 1,000 flight hours for first officer candidates from civilian backgrounds, while Asiana requires only 300.

"Some of us were skilled enough to join Asiana ahead of Korean Air's civilian-background pilots — good enough that 300 hours was all we needed," he wrote. "While Korean Air first officers were logging 700 hours on propeller planes before joining, Asiana first officers were building up 700-plus hours of experience at a commercial airline."

Korean Air Pilot Union (KAPU) pushed back. “The honor and reputation of all flight crew members have been damaged by unverified information and distorted claims,” it said in a statement. The union added that it has collected evidence of what it described as "defamation and false claims," warning that it would pursue both criminal and civil legal action.

The emotional standoff has compounded what was already a structurally difficult administrative problem. Because the two airlines have such different hiring practices and career tracks, any formula for merging the seniority lists creates winners and losers, or essentially a zero-sum dynamic that makes compromise elusive.

Asiana Airlines and Korean Air flight and cabin crew employees pose for a commemorative photo at Incheon International Airport Terminal 2 on May 14 to mark Asiana Airlines’ relocation to Terminal 2 on Jan. 14 [JOONGANG ILBO]

Another thorny issue involves pilots with military backgrounds. Management initially proposed merging based on the date of joining the company, but because Asiana had a practice of processing military pilots' employment before their discharge from service, Korean Air's military-background pilots ended up ranked lower. When management then proposed an alternative based on the date of military discharge, Asiana's military-background pilots ended up leapfrogging Korean Air's civilian career hires who joined around the same time.

Korean Air promotes roughly 120 to 144 pilots to captain per year. A representative for the airline noted that 154 pilots are due for promotion next year and 174 the year after, and now 70 to 80 Asiana pilots will be folded into that queue.

KAPU has now opened the door to a strike. After management rejected its request to renegotiate the seniority framework through formal labor-management talks, the union held a strike authorization vote last month, which passed with roughly 80 percent support. An actual strike remains a procedurally distant prospect, however.

Aviation is classified as an essential public service in Korea, meaning that even during a strike, airlines must maintain a minimum operational rate of 80 percent for international routes. The union is set to begin mediation proceedings at the regional labor commission next week over revisions to its essential services maintenance agreement.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY YI WOO-LIM [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]