Transport minister, airlines commit to greater safety

Won Hee-ryong, minister of land, infrastructure and transport, speaks at a meeting with CEOs of local airlines on Wednesday. [NEWS1]

Won Hee-ryong, minister of land, infrastructure and transport, urged airlines to focus on safety, and Korean Air Lines promised to conduct safety inspections following a series of aviation accidents.

“People don’t tolerate companies that focus on earning money while only pretending to focus on safety,” said Won, at a meeting with CEOs and presidents of 11 local airlines on Wednesday. “Recently, there have been three aviation accidents, which has made people’s concerns grow.”

On Sept. 29, a Korean Air Lines 777-300ER bound for Heathrow struck the tail of an Icelandair aircraft on the runway at Heathrow Airport. On Oct. 23, another of the airlines' A330s overran a runway while landing at Mactan-Cebu International Airport, damaging the plane's underbelly although no one was injured. On Oct. 30, a Korean Air Lines A330 aircraft bound for Sydney had to return to Incheon when its engine overheated.

The transport ministry has been conducting safety checks on 11 local airlines since Oct. 18, which will run through Nov. 24. The inspection of Korean Air Lines will take place between Friday and Nov. 17, with the ministry looking into whether flight crews receive adequate safety training and possible problems in aircrafts and engines.

At the meeting, Woo Kee-hong, president of Korean Air Lines, said the company will conduct additional safety checks on its fleet of 30 A330s.

The carrier will gradually phase out six older A330s and replace them with newer models. A total of 90 aircraft will be added by the end of 2028, including 10 B787-9s, 20 B787-10s, 30 B737-8s and 30 A321 Neos.

Korean Air Lines plans to spend 1.4 trillion won ($987.5 million) on new planes next year. It will also spend 64 billion won on new engines and another 400 billion won on components needed for maintenance.

The carrier will also employ additional safety personnel.

Woo added that Korean Air Lines is building an engine repair facility on Yeongjong Island, investing 500 billion won through the end of 2025. When the facility is built, the carrier will be able to conduct maintenance on 300 engines per year, which is double its current capacity.

Other carriers vowed to focus on safety as well, considering there will be more international flights as travel demand rebounds from the pandemic.

“We will put safety as our priority and carry out inspections of our aircraft ahead of the increase in international flight frequencies,” said Jeong Hong-geun, CEO of T’way Air. “We will also recruit more personnel to take care of various safety-related issues.”

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]