Korean Air, Asiana to swap cabin crew duties after US approves merger: report

Korean Air and Asiana Airlines cabin crew will reportedly swap duties once the United States approves a merger between the two airlines.

The flag carrier of South Korea is currently seeking approval from the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to merge with Asiana Airlines. Korean Air has filed for the merger in 2021. Since then, it has received approval from 13 of the 14 jurisdictions, including the US. 

According to a report by Korea JoongAng Daily, once the merger is approved, Korean Air plans to keep Asiana as a subsidiary for two years before fully subsuming the carrier. During this intermediary period, the two airlines will exchange employees. 

Cabin crew make up approximately half of the two airlines’ work forces. In the first quarter of 2024, Korean Air employed 6,000 flight attendants, while Asiana hired 3,000.

A Korean Air spokesperson told JoongAng Daily that further discussions are still necessary to determine the details of the exchange of employees’ duties.

In 2007, Korean Air implemented a similar program where for a period of six months, six Korean Air flight attendants were placed on China Southern Airlines’ Incheon International Airport (ICN)-Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN) route, with one crew member per flight. 

In turn, China Southern Airlines also placed a total of 40 crew members on Korean Air’s Incheon-Guangzhou, Incheon-Beijing International Airport (PEK), and Incheon-Changsha Huanghua International Airport (CSX) routes, with two crew members on every flight.

A June 2024 report by Korean media outlet Dong-A Ilbo said that Korean Air Chairman and CEO Cho Won-tae expects the US approval of the planned merger with Asiana Airlines by the end of October 2024.

Air Incheon preferred buyer for Asiana cargo segment in Korean Air merger

AirlinesbyIan MolyneauxJune 17, 2024

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