Increase the flight rate… Airline labor costs in the first half of this year exceeded pre-covid19 levels

It was found that the total labor costs of major national airlines in the first half of this year exceeded the level in the first half of 2019 before COVID-19.

According to the labor cost status data submitted by each airline through the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport by the office of Rep. Park Sang-hyuk of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee of the National Assembly, on the 12th, the labor cost of major airlines such as Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Jeju Air and T’way Air in the first half of this year is the same as the labor cost in the first half of 2019. There were more.

This is due to the increase in flight operation rates due to the pandemic and the return of flight attendants who had been on leave.

Korean Air’s labor costs increased 14% from KRW 856.8 billion in the first half of 2019 to KRW 9,773 billion in the first half of this year.

Last year, Korean Air reached an agreement with the general labor union and the pilots union to increase total wages by 10%. This was supported by the fact that the cargo business achieved the highest performance ever despite the coronavirus crisis.

Asiana Airlines, which is facing management difficulties due to the prolonged corporate merger process with Korean Air, also increased its aircraft operation rate in the first half of this year. As a result, labor costs increased by about 1.6% to 289.8 billion won compared to four years ago.

(Source: Yonhap News / Translation of an article : Miso from JT News)