Asiana Airlines to Increase Maximum Working Days by Up to 5... Minimizing Side Effects of Leave (Comprehensive)

As the court's decision on Korean Air's acquisition of Asiana Airlines approaches, on the 30th, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines passenger planes were moving toward the runway at Gimpo Airport apron in Gangseo-gu, Seoul. The Seoul Central District Court is expected to deliver a ruling today or tomorrow on the injunction request filed by activist private equity fund KCGI against Hanjin KAL to prohibit the issuance of new shares. If the court dismisses the injunction request, the acquisition process will accelerate, but if the injunction is granted, the acquisition is likely to be canceled. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporters Dongwoo Lee, Jehun Yoo] Asiana Airlines is extending the working period for some employees in office work and cargo transportation who are currently on unpaid leave.

According to industry sources on the 4th, Asiana Airlines recently announced a 'Leave Operation Plan Amendment' internally, stating that the unpaid leave period for employees excluding cabin crew and pilots will be flexibly applied for up to 10 to 15 days depending on the workload by job type and department.

The company previously applied a 15-day unpaid leave period per month for all employees starting from April last year due to the impact of COVID-19. From this month, it plans to reduce this period by up to 5 days to efficiently manage idle personnel and minimize some side effects caused by prolonged leave.

The scope of this leave amendment includes general office workers, cargo, and maintenance sectors, accounting for about 20% of all employees, approximately 2,000 people. However, flight operation staff such as cabin crew and pilots are excluded from this amendment due to delays in the normalization of international flights.

The reason Asiana Airlines flexibly adjusted the unpaid leave period is analyzed to be due to increased workload in the cargo sector following a special demand since last year. In preparation for the prolonged COVID-19 situation, Asiana Airlines has strengthened its belly cargo operations using passenger aircraft cargo holds since last year.

The company converted 283 economy seats on one A350-900 passenger aircraft into cargo space, increasing the load capacity by about 5 tons, and separated the lower bunk space of two B777-200ER passenger aircraft to further enhance existing belly cargo transport capacity.

As a result, Asiana Airlines' cargo division revenue in the third quarter of last year was 485.1 billion KRW, a 49.9% increase compared to the same period the previous year. During the same period, the proportion of cargo in total revenue rose by 45.4 percentage points from 20.6% to 66%. Notably, revenue growth was significant in regions such as China (61%), Southeast Asia (33%), and the Americas (9%), and this upward trend is expected to continue into the first half of this year.

Increased demand for semiconductors and the rise in volume due to COVID-19 vaccine transportation are also anticipated factors. If global vaccine transportation distributed domestically begins in earnest, Asiana Airlines, which holds the pharmaceutical air cargo transport qualification (CEIV Pharma) from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) along with Korean Air, is expected to see an increase in volume. The company currently owns 12 dedicated cargo aircraft.

The rising trend in air cargo freight rates is also a positive factor. As of last month, the air cargo freight rate on the North America-Hong Kong route (based on the TAC air freight index) was $6.43 per kg, slightly down from $7.5 the previous month but still more than double the rate of $3.14 in the same period last year.

An Asiana Airlines official said, "Due to the prolonged impact of COVID-19, cargo volume has been increasing since the second half of last year," adding, "We are adjusting the unpaid leave schedule and coordinating details to allow flexible work for some personnel, including related departments."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.