Asiana outlines new safety moves

Asiana Airlines, the nation’s second largest carrier, yesterday announced its reinforced safety measures as the company tries to recover from a fatal crash in San Francisco two months ago that killed three Chinese students.

“As an airline that is representing Korea, we will do our best to be recognized as the world’s best airline in safety and service,” Asiana Airlines President and CEO Yoon Young-doo said in a statement.

The affiliate of Kumho Asiana Group said it will expand the size of its safety and security team and boost its profile within the company. It will also hire outside safety experts in order to receive more objective reviews.

The company will establish a screening team under the safety and security unit in a bid to strengthen inspections and analyze safety-related issues. It will also create a flight safety committee under the flight operation division.

Asiana said cockpit crew simulator training will focus more on pilots flying to airports with challenging conditions such as fog. It also will expand the size of its flight operations training team and increase the number of hours of instruction.

The carrier said it will use inspections by outside institutions on its safety system in order to ensure smooth operations.

Although the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board hasn’t yet completed its investigation of the July 6 crash of Asiana Flight 214, the company said the measures announced yesterday are part of its plan to establish a stable platform for growth, which aims to operate 100 aircraft by 2020.

The airline’s first task will be operating flights during the Chuseok holidays, when Koreans travel to their hometowns. The company said that from Tuesday to Sunday it will have on-site inspection teams to check safety and customer services at locations where there are large numbers of travelers.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is also trying to upgrade aviation safety following the accident.

It formed a 19-member aviation safety committee on July 31 that is working on coming up with a comprehensive industry safety plan by November.

Asiana last month offered all 288 survivors of the San Francisco crash $10,000 as initial compensation. The air carrier denied that the move was designed to discourage further claims against the company, saying it was in line with recent international procedures.

BY Joo Kyung-don [kjoo@joongang.co.kr]