Asiana offers retirement packages to its veterans

Asiana Airlines started offering early retirement packages to employees who worked for over 15 years, it confirmed Thursday.

The airline, put up for sale by its cash-strapped parent Kumho Asiana Group, has been trying to cut overhead to make itself more attractive for sale.

According to a source in the airline, human resources put up a notice Tuesday saying it will accept voluntary retirement applications from employees who joined the airline before 2014. Flight crew, including pilots, cabin crew and mechanics, were not included.

The application period ends in mid-May. Those whose applications are accepted will leave the company on June 30.

Severance will be two years of workers’ base pay. The company will also cover the school tuitions of retirees’ children for a maximum of two years within four years after their retirement.

The last time the company accepted buyout applications was last December.

The notice came just a day after the company ordered some employees to go on unpaid leave. Those subject to the company’s order are office staff including sales officers and administrative staff who have not applied for unpaid leave since 2016.

Subject employees need to take periods ranging from a minimum of 15 days to a maximum of three years off without being paid.

Kumho Industrial, the largest shareholder of the airlines with a 33.47 percent stake, plans to complete a sale of Asiana Airlines by the end of this year. On April 25, it picked Credit Suisse to manage the sale.

BY KIM JEE-HEE [kim.jeehee@joongang.co.kr]