Kang Seung-woo is the Business Desk editor at The Korea Times. Prior to this position, he covered politics, national affairs, finance and sports.
Local airlines' pilots bolt for China
Eight Korean airlines lost nearly 500 pilots to foreign competitors in the past five years, according to government data, Wednesday. / gettyimagesbank
By Kang Seung-woo
By Kang Seung-woo
Nearly 500 pilots from eight Korean airlines have moved to foreign carriers in the past five years, mostly to Chinese rivals, according to government data, Wednesday, raising concerns that the nation's expanding aviation industry may face a pilot shortage.
Rep. An Ho-young of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said 460 pilots from the eight carriers found new jobs at non-Korean companies from 2014 to July 2019, citing information from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
Given that the local aviation sector had 6,316 pilots as of the end of last year, the number of those who left Korean-based carriers accounted for nearly 7 percent of the total.
The eight carriers are Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Jeju Air, Jin Air, T'way Air, Eastar Jet, Air Busan and Air Seoul.
By airline, 172 pilots left Korean Air, followed by 86 from Asiana and 52 from Air Busan, while Jin Air, Jeju Air and Eastar Jet also lost more than 40 pilots, each.
Of those who left, at least 367, or 80 percent, landed jobs at Chinese airlines ― in particular in 2016 and 2017 when 90 and 128 moved there, respectively, at the time of a boom in the global aviation industry. During the period, Chinese airlines offered an annual salary of up to 300 million won ($252,000) to pilots.
In addition, the arrival of additional budget airlines in the industry, previously dominated by the two full-service carriers ― Korean Air and Asiana Airlines ― also boosted their value.
To make the situation worse, the planned launch of three low-cost carriers ― Aero K, Fly Gangwon, and Air Premia ― next year is expected to aggravate the shortage.
“A shortage of pilots may lead to operational disruption that can threaten aviation safety,” the lawmaker said.
“In addition, a lack of pilots may prevent airlines from launching new flight routes as well.”
The ministry said Chinese carriers' active recruitment of foreign pilots has eased since last year as airlines there move to establish their own pilot training programs.