Captain Pilot Couple
By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
For the first time in Korea's 60-year aviation history, a husband and wife are co-pilots.
Korean Air said Sunday the company's co-pilot couple ㅡ Kim Hyun-seok and wife Hwang Yeon-jung ㅡ passed a qualification exam last week to become the first captain pilot couple. Hwang is the third female Korean commercial pilot, Korean Air said.
Kim, a major in environmental engineering at Inha University, became a pilot through special recruitment, while his wife Hwang was selected as a pilot trainee while working for Korean Air as a flight attendant.
They tied the knot in 1999.
``At the time of marriage, I promised to help her become a female captain. I'm happy to keep the promise,'' Kim said smiling.
Intense flight schedules allow them to be together only a couple of days per week. ``But I'm happy because we work in the same industry. And we can also be advisors to each other,'' Hwang said.
They have two children.
``If my children want to become pilots, we'll strongly support them,'' Hwang added.
Kim's first flight as a captain will be a domestic route between Jeju Island and Cheongju, which is to take off Sunday, while his wife Hwang will operate an international route linking Seoul and Taipei on Dec. 3.