KAL Set to Hire 130 Foreign Pilots to Improve Safety
Korean Air plans to hire 130 foreign pilots this year and this number accounts for more than half the airline's planned total recruitment of 240 pilots.
Source : Korea Times
Korean Air plans to hire 130 foreign pilots this year and this number accounts for more than half the airline's planned total recruitment of 240 pilots.
The figure is more than double the 61 foreign pilots the national carrier recruited last year.
The sharp rise in the recruitment of foreign pilots is viewed as Korean Air's desperate bid to improve its safety standards. The disaster-prone airline has been under fire for a recent string of mishaps and some aviation experts have blamed them on the airline's top-down cockpit culture.
Korean Air has previously employed a large number of Air Force pilots.
This year's total recruitment of 240 pilots, compared with last year's 173, is to make up for shortages in compliance with stricter flight standards and the introduction of new passenger aircraft. Currently, Korean Air employs 147 foreign pilots.
Korean Air has plans to introduce 30 new aircraft by the end of next year, replacing its aging fleet of planes, in an effort to improve its safety record.
The world's 13th largest airline has been under increasing pressure because of its poor safety record in recent years. Most recently, A Korean Air Boeing 747 cargo jet crashed during takeoff from Stansted Airport near London, killing all four crew members.
The airline's worst incident involved a passenger jet which crashed into a hillside on the Pacific island of Guam in August 1997, killing 229 and leaving 20 injured.
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