There is more trouble ahead for Korean Air as many employees staged a protest outside the headquarters late on Friday demanding the resignation of the airline’s chairman Cho Yang-ho.
The workers amassed outside the HQ in Seoul, many carrying placards depicting slogans such as “Cho Yang-ho, OUT” and “No mercy”. The staff, many of whom adorned masks to protect their identities for fear of company retaliation are unhappy with the way the airline is being run and the bad behaviour of Cho Yang-ho's daughters.
The airline has faced both an employee and passenger backlash over the chairman’s youngest daughter Cho Hyun-min being accused of throwing a drink at people at a business meeting last month. And, sister Heather Cho's whole 'nut-rage scandal' from 2014 when she lost her temper over the way she was served nuts in first class on a Korean Air plane. She famously demanded the aircraft return to the gate to have the staff member removed. Following the incident, she apologised, was charged, went to jail, but has since returned to work, this time for the Korean Air hotel affiliate in March.
Recently, chairman Cho Yang-ho has made his daughters step down from their positions at the airline and made a public apology for their behaviour, in an attempt to placate employee and passenger anger. However, the row seems far from over as the staff - including pilots and cabin crew - say they would continue to protest on the streets until the chairman also steps down. They are also seeking a greater level of transparency concerning the airlines' management.
