Korean Air pilot union withdraws mediation request, averting strike
In short
Korean Air said its pilot union accepted the district labor relations commission's recommendation and withdrew its request for labor dispute mediation, removing the immediate threat of a strike. The two sides will keep negotiating until Oct 27 without discussing the pilot seniority issue that triggered the dispute after the Korean Air–Asiana merger. The union filed the mediation request on Sept 7.
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Korean Air said its pilot union accepted the recommendation of the district labor relations commission and withdrew its request for labor dispute mediation, removing the immediate risk of a strike. The airline said the mediation sessions ran through Oct 7 and that the union had filed its request with the Seoul district commission on Sept 7. Seoul Economic Daily reported that the commission judged normal labor-management negotiations would be difficult if the seniority issue were placed on the collective agreement agenda, and persuaded the union to withdraw and proceed with bargaining while leaving that issue out. [ 1 , 3 ]
The dispute stems from the merger of Korean Air and Asiana Airlines. Pilot seniority determines the order of captain promotion and the order of conversion to larger aircraft, and because pay can vary significantly depending on when a pilot is appointed captain, the topic is sensitive among pilots. The union argued that seniority should be set through agreement between the two sides; Korean Air maintained that the ranking method is its own personnel authority. The union also worried that ranking by official employee number would disadvantage Korean Air pilots hired from the private sector, who joined with 1,000 hours of flight experience and received formal employee numbers only after further in-house training, potentially placing them below Asiana-origin pilots with less experience. Korean Air said it had prepared objective measures through consulting by an outside expert body that would not disadvantage its pilots. [ 1 ]
Seoul Economic Daily said the union's mediation request was its first in 11 years, since December 2015, and that the union held a seven-day strike in December 2016 after failing to narrow differences in the 2015 wage talks. Asia Economy and Newsis described the situation as a first pilot strike risk in 10 years. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Under the commission's recommendation, the two sides will negotiate until Oct 27 to reach a 2024 collective agreement and a 2025 wage agreement, and seniority-related matters will not be raised during that period, according to the reports. The deadline can be extended by agreement between the two sides. A Korean Air official said the company would maintain the principle that seniority is its inherent personnel right and would take part in the coming negotiations in good faith. [ 1 , 3 ]
Why it matters
Avoiding a pilot strike removes an immediate operational risk for Korean Air at a time when it is integrating Asiana Airlines, and keeps the merged carrier's flight schedules out of a labor confrontation for now. The underlying seniority dispute is only deferred: negotiations on it are excluded until Oct 27, and the company continues to treat seniority as its own personnel authority.
Key facts
- Korean Air said its pilot union accepted the labor relations commission's recommendation and withdrew its request for labor dispute mediation, averting a strike. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- The union filed its mediation request with the Seoul district labor relations commission on Sept 7, according to the reports. [ 1 , 3 ]
- The dispute centers on pilot seniority after the Korean Air–Asiana Airlines merger; seniority determines captain promotion order, widebody aircraft conversion order and, indirectly, pay. [ 1 , 3 ]
- Korean Air says seniority decisions are its inherent personnel right, while the union has argued the two sides should agree the ranking. [ 1 ]
- Under the recommendation, the two sides will negotiate until Oct 27 for the 2024 collective agreement and 2025 wage agreement, with no discussion of seniority in that period. [ 1 , 3 ]
- Asia Economy and Newsis described the situation as a first pilot strike risk in 10 years; Seoul Economic Daily described the mediation request as the first in 11 years. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- The Korean Air pilot union withdrew its labor dispute mediation request after accepting the labor relations commission's recommendation. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- The union filed the mediation request on Sept 7. [ 1 , 3 ]
- Korean Air and the union will continue negotiations until Oct 27, with seniority excluded from the talks during that period. [ 1 , 3 ]
- The dispute arose from the pilot seniority issue following the Korean Air–Asiana Airlines merger. [ 1 , 3 ]
Still unclear
- How long it had been since the previous strike risk: Asia Economy and Newsis say 10 years, while Seoul Economic Daily says the mediation request was the first in 11 years, since December 2015. The outlets give different time frames for the last comparable labor dispute and strike.
- Whether and how the seniority issue will be resolved after the Oct 27 negotiation period. The documents say seniority is excluded from talks until Oct 27, but do not say what happens afterward.
- The relationship between Newsis's headline and its article text, which deals with a rocket launch rather than the labor dispute. The article body under document 2 concerns a different story, so only its headline supports this event.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Asia Economy reports Korean Air's announcement that the pilot union accepted the labor relations commission's recommendation and withdrew its mediation request. [ 1 ]
- Newsis reports the union's withdrawal, describing it as closing a strike crisis after 10 years. [ 2 ]
- Seoul Economic Daily reports the withdrawal, saying the commission recommended proceeding with negotiations while excluding the seniority issue. [ 3 ]