Park Ji-won is a writer for The Korea Times who has been covering a wide range of topics from Korea’s culture to its politics. An avid journalism enthusiast to the core, Ji-won brings a thoughtful and unique perspective to every topic she covers. On weekends, you'll often find her contemplating life’s purpose on a yoga mat — with a cup of quality tea in hand. A native Korean speaker by birth and fluent in English through her work, she went to college in Japan and is learning Chinese and French — hoping to add Polish, Russian and Thai to the mix.
Pilot exodus in military: Air Force loses veteran pilots to commercial airlines
A pilot climbs the ladder to the cockpit of an KF-16 for joint Freedom Flag air drills with the United States in Gwangju, April 23. Courtesy of Air Force
By Park Ji-won
Hundreds of veteran Air Force pilots have left the military for commercial airlines over the past decade amid poor working conditions, causing significant losses for the military, data showed.
According to Air Force data submitted, Sunday, to Rep. Kang Dae-sik of the main opposition People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee, a total of 896 veteran pilots voluntarily left the service from 2017 to March this year.
The term "veteran pilots" refers to those with eight to 17 years of experience who are capable of independently carrying out operations and training lower-grade pilots.
In the first three months of this year alone, 47 pilots left the Air Force to join civilian airlines.
Of the total, up to 622, or 69.4 percent, joined Korean Air, the country's flagship carrier, while 147, or 16.4 percent, joined Asiana Airlines and 103, or 11.5 percent, joined low-cost carriers.
Separate 2025 data compiled by Rep. Kim Byung-kee of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, another member of the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee, showed that 113 veteran Air Force pilots moved to commercial airlines in 2024, up from 82 in 2023 and 60 in 2022.
Most pilots who left the service joined commercial airlines shortly after completing their mandatory service period.
The average service period of the experienced pilots who left the military was 15.2 years for academy graduates and 10.6 years for nonacademy graduates.
The mandatory service period for fixed-wing aircraft pilots, including fighter and transport aircraft pilots, is 15 years for Air Force Academy graduates and 10 years for non-academy graduates.
The exodus appears to be driven by dissatisfaction with salaries and poor working conditions.
The survey conducted by the Air Force in January 2025 showed that pilots left the service mainly due to the salary gap with commercial airlines (68.9 percent), poor work-life balance (67.5 percent) and housing instability (61.4 percent).
Concerns have been growing that the exodus of experienced pilots could weaken the Air Force’s operational capabilities and result in national losses.
Training a veteran pilot costs more than 1 billion won ($679,661) according to media reports. The estimated cost is 6.17 billion won for an F-35A fighter pilot, 2.67 billion won for an F-15K pilot, 1.84 billion won for a (K)F-16 pilot, 1.63 billion won for an FA-50 light attack aircraft pilot and 1.21 billion won for a C-130J transport aircraft pilot.
“The current pilot staffing rate remains above 90 percent, so the Air Force is maintaining readiness,” an Air Force official said. “We continue to take efforts to improve pilots’ service conditions and treatment, including by raising incentives for extended services.”