Asiana Asked to Scrap Discrimination
By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
A human rights commission said that applying different criteria in recruiting flight attendants for domestic and international routes could be considered discrimination.
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea Monday recommended Asiana Airlines to remove any discrimination in terms of academic background for recruiting flight attendants engaging in domestic and international flights.
The commission said currently the company has different yardsticks to employ crewmembers on its domestic and international routes.
At present, those who graduate from a four-year-course university are eligible to apply for both while those who have a diploma issued from a community college or two-year college can only apply for domestic flights.
Noting that such a policy is needed for the company, Asiana Airlines said that international airlines require a higher intellectual ability especially in foreign language and communication skills compared with domestic lines. ``It is an inevitable choice for Asiana to boost its competitiveness,'' a company spokesman said.
But the human rights commission recommended the company abolish the discriminatory policy, citing its justification was unreasonable and thus unacceptable.
Two individuals, who had graduated from a community college, filed a complaint against the company in January and February respectively, asserting that Asiana discriminates between four-year university degree holders and those who have graduated from a community college in its recruiting process.