By Kim Jae-heun
Korea's No.1 low-cost carrier (LCC) Jeju Air is being criticized for a seven-hour delay on a flight to Da Nang, Vietnam, Saturday, after the air crew found fault with electronic equipment on board hours into the flight and returned to Incheon.
The plane took off for Vietnam at 10:40 p.m. from Incheon International Airport and had almost reached Taiwan when the pilot discovered the electrical problem. Instead of landing at the nearest airport in Taipei, the pilot decided to turn around and go all the way back to Incheon.
Back in Korea, passengers had to wait two more hours for the next flight and finally arrived at Da Nang at 2:40 a.m. in the morning on Sunday.
Jeju Air, meanwhile, claimed it found no fault with the aircraft during its routine preflight maintenance.
It said it is currently investigating the cause of the sudden electronic problem.
Customers became angry when the LCC decided to compensate them only 50,000 won ($46.75) per person for the flight delay.
“It's ridiculous that the carrier is only paying 50,000 won for all the time and money wasted by the delay,” a passenger said on condition of anonymity.
Another passenger said he will not accept the compensation and will file a civil complaint or even sue Jeju Air if the airliner refuses to fairly compensate him and the other passengers.
The LCC refused to comment.
According to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), a carrier failing to depart on time must compensate passengers.
The FTC standard suggests Jeju Air pay each passenger between $300 and $600 for delaying a flight by over four hours.
However, this standard has no legal bearing and carriers do not have to compensate passengers when the delay is caused by unforeseen necessity.
Jeju Air and Jin Air received the most civil complaints from customers last year, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport.
The two airlines were criticized for frequent flight cancellations and delays as well as their refusal to fully compensate passengers in such cases.
Jeju Air, in particular, recorded the second-highest number of domestic flight delays at 13.5 percent.
Jin Air topped the list with 15.7 percent. T'Way Air ranked third with 13 percent, followed by Air Busan with 12.5 percent, Asiana with 11.5 percent, Eastar Jet with 10.9 percent and Korean Air with 10.1 percent.