Korean Air Pilots’ Union Calls Off Strike, Withdraws Mediation Request

Union Withdraws Labor Commission Mediation Request
Labor and Management to Hold Negotiations Until the 27th

The Korean Air Pilots Union, which had been in conflict with management over the issue of pilot seniority following the merger with Asiana Airlines, has taken a step back by accepting the recommendation of the Labor Relations Commission. As a result, a pilot strike, which would have been the first in ten years, has been averted.

Members of the Korean Air Pilots Union held a rally on the afternoon of September 14 in front of Korean Air headquarters in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, to oppose the unilateral decision on the ranking of flight crew members. Photo by Yonhap News.

On October 7, Korean Air announced, "As a result of the conciliation meeting held today by the Regional Labor Relations Commission, the pilots' union has accepted the commission's recommendation and withdrawn its request for mediation."

Korean Air and the pilots' union held a conciliation session the previous day under the supervision of the regional labor commission. The final deadline for conciliation was October 7. Had the commission decided to discontinue the mediation process, the union would have secured the legal right to strike.

The union had filed for labor dispute mediation with the regional labor commission on September 7.

The seniority issue, which has been at the core of the labor-management conflict, surfaced as Asiana Airlines and Korean Air proceeded with their merger. Pilot seniority serves as a critical criterion for determining the order of promotion to captain and conversion to larger aircraft. Because pay scales can vary significantly based on the timing of captain appointments, seniority is a sensitive subject among pilots.

Pilots at Korean Air have insisted that, post-merger, seniority should be determined through negotiations between labor and management. Meanwhile, Korean Air maintains that determining seniority is a prerogative of management’s own personnel authority.

The union has also expressed concern that if Korean Air bases rank solely on official employee numbers, civilian pilots hired by Korean Air may be disadvantaged. These civilian career pilots join the company with 1,000 hours of flight experience, but only receive an official employee number after completing additional in-house training. As a result, they could end up ranking below former Asiana Airlines pilots who may have less total experience.

Korean Air stated that, with the help of an external professional consulting agency, it has devised an objective solution that ensures Korean Air pilots will not be treated unfairly.

A Korean Air official said, "In accordance with the Labor Relations Commission's recommendation, we plan to hold negotiations until October 27, and during this period, there will be no mention of matters related to seniority. The company will remain committed to upcoming negotiations, while maintaining the principle that seniority decisions are a matter of management’s inherent personnel authority."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.