Cho Hyun-ah, now former vice president of Korean Air has caused public outcry yet again. In 2013, Cho received a lot of flack for going abroad to give birth to her twin sons. This time, even though Korean media cannot seem to decide whether they were peanuts, macadamia nuts, or “snacks”, everyone agrees that her outrageous reaction perceived bad service crossed the line.
Article from Segye Ilbo:
“Get off the plane”, Absurd Order to Flight Attendant from Korean Air’s Vice President Cho Hyun-Ah.
Cho Hyun-ah, vice president of Korean Air, was not satisfied with in-flight service, and ordered a head flight attendant off the flight. This caused a 20-minute delay, as the plane going from New York to Incheon was proceeding toward the runway for takeoff. The flight attendant flew to Incheon International Airport the following day.
According to sources in the aviation industry, on Nov. 5 (local time) the KE086 flight bound for Incheon from JFK International Airport in New York, was moving toward the runway to takeoff, but it changed its course to return to the gate. This is called “ramp return” but it is usually reserved for when there is a safety concern, such as a maintenance issue or unidentified baggage.
But this ramp return had nothing to do with any of these concerns. It occurred after the vice president questioned the quality of her in-flight service..
The episode started when Cho was served a packaged snack in the first class cabin. She reprimanded the flight attendant, saying “Why do you serve these in a bag? Don’t you know the procedures?” Cho proceeded to berate the attendant, interrogating her about in flight service procedures, and finally shouting, “Get off the plane!”
Cho’s anger forced the plane to head back to the terminal to escort the head flight attendant off the plane before it took off. The unusual ramp return delayed the flight departure by around 20 minutes, resulting in an 11-minute delay in arrival at Incheon International Airport. As the story spread, Vice President Cho came under a storm of criticism, including from Korean Air.
Article 43 of Aviation Safety Act stipulates that anyone who obstructs legitimate aviation business using violence, threats or deception, endangering safety of passengers and the aircraft, is subject to a sentence of up to 10 years in prison .
An airline industry insider says, “Ramp returns sometimes take place due to maintenance problems. But I have never experienced or heard of a ramp return made just because a privileged member of the ‘royal family’ questioned her in-flight service. ramp returns sometimes take place due to maintenance problems.
A Korea Air official explained, saying, “Airline workers pay more attention to in-flight service procedures when a corporate executive is on board, so we understand the ramp return this time occurred due to a situation with in-flight service.”
Back in April, an executive from a Korean conglomerate on board a Korean Air flight told an attendant that his instant noodles were undercooked, demanding that the noodles be served to him after being cooked again, sparking a wave of criticism. At that time, the Korean Air pledged to respond sternly to his actions that threatened flight safety, including legal action.
Comments from Naver:
안녕님:
She acts just like she looks.
밀레야님:
Tsk tsk, she’s a snob.
오표시님:
It really makes me worried.
뽈님:
She thinks the flight attendant is her slave… Did she really have to deal with the situation impudently taking 20 minutes away from other customers, no matter how wrong the flight attendant was?
마리님:
She looks like a pig and her reputation is really bad. People online say she is a pyscho with a personality disorder.
선승님:
Born as a child of the Chaebol, she doesn’t respect other people. How does the family treat their daughters to make news like this come out all the time? Seems like the scandal about having her kids abroad was just yesterday.. she scared the hell out those flight attendants.. Korean Air, you’ll get past it. You rich guys, you suffer too much!
시균님:
Is she insane or just lacking in common sense? Or was she going nuts with jealousy because the flight attendant was beautiful?
karl님:
Korean Air is famous for working people like slaves.
toass님:
Uh that face, delete the picture. The fried mandu I ate last night just came back up… barf.
남토르님:
She didn’t think of the flight attendant as a person but as a slave.
jonskei님:
Since customers on the same flight had to suffer through this, refund them the flight ticket price.
눈꽃빙수:
When she was served a sealed snack, she could have asked them to open it. How did she get so idiotic just over a sealed snack? Is Korean Air your private airline? There are many accidents these days. When the flight returns suddenly, customers feel nervous, have a problems keeping appointments, and can have to delay important things. Open the snack by yourself.
네더필드님:
She seems to live on the curses she received for giving birth abroad, but she might need more insults to keep her life long. She is doing so much stuff. It’d be hard to cause all these problems if she wasn’t crazy.
옛날얘기님:
Is she the one who gave birth abroad?
비야님:
Even though they are like a royal family, are they going to amend safety regulations just because of a packaged snack? Cho is so much ruder than most women in Korea. Maybe she thinks Korean Air has no competition?
