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Asiana Airlines CEO Han Chang-soo has sparked controversy after it became known that his two sons had been hired by the nation's second-largest airline, according to industry officials Wednesday. Critics say considering Han's position, the sons would have received preferential treatment during the recruitment process.
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| Asiana Airlines CEO Han Chang-soo |
Han's eldest son, 32, has been hired as a first officer, or co-pilot, for aircraft last week.
Prior to this, Han's younger son was hired for a general administrative position in 2017.
Asiana employees criticized the employment on the app Blind, a service that enables employees of a company or people working in the same industry to upload instant messages and communicate anonymously.
"Their father is the CEO of the company. There is no way the personnel department did not know that," an employee wrote.
Another employee questioned whether the first son was qualified to be a co-pilot, claiming he had previously worked for a credit card company.
Asiana Airlines acknowledged that the CEO's sons are currently working for the company, but denied the speculation that they were granted preferential treatment during the recruitment process.
"The company has recruited its employees through strict and transparent recruitment systems," an Asiana Airlines official said. "The CEO's sons were hired through a fair process too."
The official noted that the first son has a pilot license, thus there was no problem in his qualification, adding the CEO was not involved in the interview process.
But a backlash from employees is still abounding amid deepening financial difficulties of the company.
Asiana suffered an operating loss of 427.4 billion won ($359 million) last year due mainly to lower demand on Japan routes. In July, Japan began to impose restrictions on exports of key industrial materials to Korea, triggering an anti-Japan boycott here, under which Koreans opted not to travel to the neighboring country.
The company is expected to remain in deficit this year following the coronavirus outbreak, which has led to an increase in the number of people cancelling overseas trips.
On Tuesday, the company went into emergency mode, with all of its executives, including the CEO, offering to resign to cut costs and improve the firm's profitability.
The company has also implemented 10 days of unpaid leave for all employees.
