Korean Air CEO's daughter Cho Hyun-Ah goes nuts over nuts

[boomy]

She got sacked by her dad over that incident.

 

[turtlemichael]

BBC News - Korean Air executive 'made steward bow over nut rage' A few more details emerge. She now appears to be sacked from all roles. I don't know a lot about Korean culture but, from the advice of a Korean friend, making the senior kneel and bow is a little over the top and evidence of how she perceived her place in the Universe.

 

[whatmeworry]

Wow this has become quite a show.

After being confronted about the nuts, senior flight attendant Park Chang-jin told South Korea's KBS television network he and his colleague kneeled down before Cho.
According to Park, Cho yelled at the crew to "call right now and stop the plane. I will stop this plane from leaving."
Park said when he returned to South Korea on a separate flight, five to six officials from Korean Air came to visit his home every day and asked him to tell investigators that Cho did not use abusive language and that he voluntarily got off the plane.
On Friday, in her first public appearance since the incident, a gloomy-faced Cho bowed and said "I sincerely apologise. I'm sorry," before droves of journalists in an almost inaudible, trembling voice.

'I kneeled before her': flight attendant reveals full extent of 'nut rage'

 

[BAM1748]

Dad should certainly tell her to apologise to the crew. The old praise in public and criticise in private needed to apply here, but obviously she cares little about the employees who make the airline what it is when considering the this problem. Would be interesting to see if Dad behaves like this when travelling.

Matt

 

[jb747]

Just to play Devil´s Advocate, maybe she had some point.

She is (was) responsible for inflight service in Korean Air, and she suffered a clear breach of service protocol, and then when she chastised them she got a poor response from those that were failing to do their job.

The delay she caused was not reasonable, but maybe if a few more airline executives got on planes and tested the service, some improvements could occur in some airlines.

She was a passenger. Her job description is irrelevant. She's the one who should have been thrown off.

 

[samh004]

She was a passenger. Her job description is irrelevant. She's the one who should have been thrown off.

With regard to this, without revealing anything you're not meant to, if there's an executive onboard your aircraft who has a problem with an FA in a similar way, would you return to gate/ do they have the power to take charge and order you back to the gate?

 

[jb747]

With regard to this, without revealing anything you're not meant to, if there's an executive onboard your aircraft who has a problem with an FA in a similar way, would you return to gate/ do they have the power to take charge and order you back to the gate?

ALL authority resides with the Captain. A passenger is a passenger...doesn't matter whether they are an executive or a garbo.

 

[kpc]

In Asian countries, I suspect relations eg children of high up executives like the CEO would be treated differently; )

 

[BAM1748]

ALL authority resides with the Captain. A passenger is a passenger...doesn't matter whether they are an executive or a garbo.

Or for this case; the responsibility rests with the captain, the authority in this case rests with the airline owners/executives.

Not all airlines are created equal.

 

[PLANT]

Nuts!

I tell you all hell would break loose if I was served nuts in a bag in business class too. I mean if we did not have people like that Korean woman standing up for us superior people then everyone would be equal and no decent service would be received up the front. Goodness she set a standard and valuable lesson as head of in flight service. ... What is the world coming too, resigning did nothing out but promote poor standards????

 

[harvyk]

Re: Nuts!

I tell you all hell would break loose if I was served nuts in a bag in business class too. I mean if we did not have people like that Korean woman standing up for us superior people then everyone would be equal and no decent service would be received up the front. Goodness she set a standard and valuable lesson as head of in flight service. ... What is the world coming too, resigning did nothing out but promote poor standards????

I know you have the , but this doesn't exactly come across as satire...

 

[harvyk]

In Asian countries, I suspect relations eg children of high up executives like the CEO would be treated differently; )

Given it was only recently (in the last 15 years) that Korean Air managed to get over it's strong coughpit hierarchy which would mean a 1st officer would rather death than to have the dishonor of correcting their captain (superior), it's not much surprise that a superior getting angry (in this case the superior being Cho Hyun-Ah) is able to get a plane sent back to the gate.

Whilst Korean Air has managed to do wonders towards making their coughpits a more open flow of communication, they are still going against thousands of years of tradition and culture to do it.

 

[anat0l]

In Asian countries, I suspect relations eg children of high up executives like the CEO would be treated differently; )

Given it was only recently (in the last 15 years) that Korean Air managed to get over it's strong coughpit hierarchy which would mean a 1st officer would rather death than to have the dishonor of correcting their captain (superior), it's not much surprise that a superior getting angry (in this case the superior being Cho Hyun-Ah) is able to get a plane sent back to the gate.

Whilst Korean Air has managed to do wonders towards making their coughpits a more open flow of communication, they are still going against thousands of years of tradition and culture to do it.

The pilot was stuck between a rock and a hard place, unfortunately. The culture in Korea (and in Japan, to a mild degree) does not help this.

If he had not turned around and exercised due authority, he would have likely been dragged over the coals once he arrives back in Korea, viz. likely summary dismissal, as his "crime" would be blatant insubordination of a company executive, who "just so happened to be the daughter of the CEO". There would be great difficulty in his finding another job (unless he moves countries), and unlike in Australia, like hell there is a union or even an authority that can protect him or get his job back just because he was actually doing his job. In fact, had this scenario been the case, it would have been much less likely it would make the news in any way. A screaming executive isn't much to write about unless it results in a safety or criminal act, so it would have simply been another flight with a disgruntled woman, who then tells daddy who fires the pilot.

That said, he will likely find himself in a similar situation now that KE is being dragged summarily over the coals for its actions (i.e. serious safety incident and bringing the company into disrepute). The only difference is that the world and the Korean authorities harbour a degree of condemnation against the company, the executives and the now-deposed nutty woman, so the exposure of the pilot to retaliatory action is somewhat reduced. In fact, it is only through media exposure and hitherto shaming by the local Korean authorities that there is any sort of contriteness shown by both the CEO and the deposed woman. It could have just as easily all been covered up with no one the wiser without any popular exposure.

The strength of familial ties in Asia should not be underestimated. It does not make anything or everything the families do right, but so there.

The other side of this is that there is a very strong honour code in both Korea and Japan. If pushed to the edge (not as far off as you think), the deposed woman and/or her father may well take their lives in light of this incident.

 

[hdfb]

The pilot was stuck between a rock and a hard place, unfortunately. The culture in Korea (and in Japan, to a mild degree) does not help this.

Oh Japan is just as bad as Korea with respect to deference to superiors. It contributed to the Fukushima nuclear plant disasters in 2011.

 

[JohnK]

Short lived power trip? I bet she regrets her actions now.

I know you have the , but this doesn't exactly come across as satire...

It did to me.

 

[whatmeworry]

Short lived power trip? I bet she regrets her actions now.

Well she gets a year to think about it now.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/13/w...un-ah-convicted-in-nut-rage-episode.html?_r=0

 

[jb747]

Excellent. Pity she didn't get the 3 years though.

 

[Quickstatus]

Excellent. Pity she didn't get the 3 years though.

unfortunately I think she will get much less than one year and be quietly back via a nepotistic parachute into a role somewhere in daddy's businesses.

 

[jb747]

unfortunately I think she will get much less than one year and be quietly back via a nepotistic parachute into a role somewhere in daddy's businesses.

Always need chocks I guess, but I would hope that even in Korea, she would have no chance of being any form of management. One can also hope that executives around the world have taken note.

 

[boomy]

Good too see some justice served in Korea.
Now let's see how the "advanced" American legal system is going to handle Mr. Conrad Hilton's case. I have a feeling not so well...