Despite the Increase in Overseas Travelers, Airline Recruitment Remains 'In the Fog'

On the last day of the Lunar New Year holiday, February 2nd, citizens are exiting the domestic terminal arrival hall at Gimpo Airport in Gangseo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Although the aviation industry is showing signs of recovery due to the government's exemption from mandatory self-quarantine, it is expected that open recruitment for new hires will remain difficult this year as well, following last year. The main reasons are identified as the worsening business conditions caused by COVID-19 and the conditions for receiving employment retention subsidies.

According to the aviation industry on the 19th, major airlines such as Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Jeju Air, T'way Air, and low-cost carriers (LCCs) have either no plans or undecided plans for open recruitment of new employees this year.

One of the biggest reasons is the conditions for maintaining employment retention subsidies. The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced last month that it would continue to provide employment retention subsidies to companies facing difficult business conditions due to COVID-19, regardless of company size, even in the third year. However, companies that hire new employees while receiving the subsidy are excluded from eligibility.

There are exceptions to this as well. These apply when the nature of the work makes it impossible to reassign existing personnel, or when reassignment of existing personnel is recognized. In fact, Korean Air recently announced the successful candidates for flight crew (pilots). An industry insider explained, "Since flight crew is a specialized position, we understand that recruitment was done on a small scale."

Even if a company is no longer receiving employment retention subsidies, it is expected that new recruitment this year would have been difficult due to poor performance. According to FnGuide, securities firms forecasted that Jeju Air’s consolidated performance last year would show sales of 266.9 billion KRW and an operating loss of 323.4 billion KRW. T'way Air is also expected to record sales of 206 billion KRW and an operating loss of 157 billion KRW. Asiana Airlines posted an operating profit of 91.6 billion KRW last year but recorded a net loss of 618.1 billion KRW.

Korean Air, the only exception, is in a similar situation. Although it achieved good results last year, most of the profits came from cargo, and the passenger segment remains sluggish. An industry insider said, "Korean Air’s flight operation rate is only about 30-40% compared to pre-COVID levels, and the corporate merger is still awaiting overseas approval, among other overlapping issues. Even after the merger, there are still matters such as personnel allocation between the two companies, so I understand that they are deeply considering these internally."

Additionally, although the 7-day quarantine for overseas arrivals was recently lifted, it is not expected to immediately lead to new recruitment. This is because the number of flights is not expected to increase sharply, and existing staff who are currently on leave can handle the demand.

The workforce in the aviation industry has been continuously decreasing since 2019. Korean Air’s workforce decreased from 19,063 in 2019 to 18,177 as of the third quarter last year. During the same period, Asiana Airlines decreased from 9,155 to 8,778, Jeju Air from 3,306 to 3,016, and T'way Air from 2,310 to 2,104.

However, the industry expects that new recruitment may resume next year. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) forecasts that from 2024, the number of air passengers will exceed pre-COVID-19 levels. An industry insider said, "Even if open recruitment is conducted, new hires cannot be deployed immediately and require a certain period of training. At least from next year, we expect new recruitment to take place."

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