T'way, Flight Attendants Unpaid Leave... Reason is Aircraft Delivery Delay

Reception up to 3 months during winter period
Temporary excess workforce occurrence... "No relation to financial difficulties"

Low-cost carrier (LCC) T'way Air is implementing unpaid leave for its cabin crew. This decision comes as the introduction of new aircraft has been delayed more than expected, leading to the judgment that there may be more idle personnel than anticipated during the winter schedule, prompting adjustments.

According to industry sources on the 27th, T'way Air recently began accepting applications for unpaid leave from cabin crew members who wish to participate. The leave period will be between 1 to 3 months during the winter schedule, which runs from the end of October this year to the end of March next year.

This measure was taken considering that the delay in some aircraft deliveries would result in more idle personnel than planned. A T'way Air official explained, "Due to the delay in some aircraft deliveries, business volume has decreased, and we expect temporary excess personnel, so we have implemented unpaid leave," adding, "It is difficult to disclose the specific target number for unpaid leave."

The delayed aircraft are reportedly those that T'way Air is independently procuring. Previously, T'way Air decided to lease five A330-200 aircraft from Korean Air to launch European routes. Currently, three have been transferred, and the remaining two are scheduled to be introduced by November.

Industry insiders believe that the rapid increase in cabin crew in preparation for launching European routes led to the personnel surplus issue. The delay in starting European routes caused disruptions in the crew training schedule as well.

Earlier, T'way Air conducted three rounds of new cabin crew recruitment in February, May, and July. In February, they also hired experienced cabin crew. As a result, the number of T'way Air cabin crew surged from 967 at the end of last year to about 1,400 this year. This is nearly double the 756 crew members as of the end of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This was a measure taken in preparation for becoming the first LCC in the industry to launch flights to Europe this year. T'way Air aimed to extend its routes to Paris, France, by mid-year. However, due to coordination issues with French authorities, the first flight was only able to take off at the end of this month. The airline also missed out on the Paris Olympics-related demand boost.

A T'way Air official stated, "The unpaid leave application is only accepted from those who wish to participate temporarily and is not related to financial difficulties."

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