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| A Korean Air flight attendant serves inflight meals to business class passengers. / Courtesy of Korean Air |
By Kim Hyun-bin
Korean Air has been slammed by customers and even its flight attendants for providing poor inflight services, including insufficient meals and supplies during flights at a time when ticket prices more than doubled compared to pre-COVID times, according to passengers and critics Thursday. There have been numerous posts and comments online by passengers criticizing Korean Air's in-flight services.
"The air ticket prices were much higher but they reduced services which are unrelated to COVID. I am worried that low-quality service will become the norm," a business class passenger on a Seoul-bound flight from Auckland, New Zealand wrote. "Instead of the warm towels provided before meals, cold disposable wipes were provided, fruit was not provided, and no side dishes were provided for ramen and only one type of cold morning bread."
Another passenger, who flew aboard a Korean Air flight to Bangkok, Thailand recently, also criticized the flag carrier.
"I asked for some blankets because it was cold and the flight attendant said she couldn't and kept saying sorry," he wrote.
Another business passenger who flew from Paris, France said, "I asked for another glass of champagne and they said 'no' and 'no soda'. Airplane fares have gone up, but it seems as if Korean Air is not equipped with basic in-flight items that should be served to passengers in order to save money, causing inconveniences."
Some airfares have tripled compared to 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak. A ticket for the Incheon to Da Nang, in Vietnam, which is popular as a summer vacation destination, cost between 250,000 and 350,000 won three years ago, but now costs 700,000 won to 1 million won. Tickets for the Incheon-New York route jumped from around 1.2 million won in 2019 to a maximum of 5 million won ($3,967).
Korean Air's poor service quality is not only felt by passengers. Earlier, a Korean Air employee posted a comment on 'Blind', an anonymous community of office workers, criticizing Korean Air's lack of inflight supplies.
"Even if you ask for drinks such as coke and juice, we can't provide them. One can of drink is distributed among three cups." "There is even a lack of bottled water on long-distance flights. The manager who ordered a box from a branch because there was a shortage of drinks abroad was disciplined and had to pay for the items out of his own pocket." The flight attendant wrote. "When selecting a meal, even first-class and business-seat passengers are not offered the chance to choose their meals because we have minimized the food choices onboard. Even desserts such as cheese have to be split into portions."
But a Korean Air spokesman blamed supply glitches triggered by the pandemic.
"On some overseas routes, it is inevitable that the supply of in-flight meals will be limited only on flights departing from foreign destinations due to local quarantine policies such as border closures due to COVID-19," a Korean Air spokesman said.
The recent fiasco will most likely tarnish Korean Air's reputation, which has received numerous prestigious service awards in the past, including the 2021 Onboard Hospitality Award. Korean Air also came in second place in Best Trans-Pacific Airline, Best Airline in North Asia, and Best Airline for Flight Attendants categories and third in Best Airline Cuisine and Best Airline for Onboard Service by Global Traveler's 2021 Tested Reader Survey Awards.
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