SOUTH KOREA. Heather Cho, Korean Air’s Senior Vice President, Catering & In-Flight Sales Business Division, has been released from jail after a successful appeal against her conviction in February for violating plane safety.
A Korean court said she should serve a suspended sentence and ruled she did not cause a change in the flight path of a Korean Air flight at New York JFK Airport on 5 December.
Ms Cho was initially convicted of violating plane safety after ordering the taxiing plane back to the gate to offload a steward who had served her macadamia nuts in the wrong way.
The court last week gave Ms Cho a reduced sentence of ten months, suspended for two years.
As reported, Ms Cho resigned from her day-to-day executive roles with Korean Air after the incident.
COMMENT: This is a victory for commonsense, writes Martin Moodie. My original comments, which I repeat below, attracted heated criticism from members of the trade but I stand by them. No-one, most of all Ms Cho, would defend her actions. But to jail a mother of two young children after a public shaming that defied belief was simply political and social grandstanding. It was not a jailable offence.
Heather Cho has outstanding human qualities. And human weaknesses. But let’s put the emphasis on the word ‘human’. She, like me, like all our readers, is flawed. It’s time to move on. She has paid her dues.
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Heather Cho’s prosecution was played out brutally in front of the media and the nation |
THE MOODIE REPORT COMMENT FROM 31 DECEMBER 2014:
My comments about Heather Cho at the time we originally reported this story drew a storm of criticism but I stick by them. I have dealt with her for many years and have always been treated with politeness and decency; never had an interview declined or a call unreturned.
I may be fortunate. I know full well of her volatile reputation among certain suppliers and there can be no doubting either the gravity of her actions in New York or their unacceptability. She has made a mistake for which she has apologised repeatedly and for which she is being punished, publically, humiliatingly and unsparingly. That is surely enough. Once the chosen punishment is implemented, it should be the end of the matter.
Professionally, as I said in my original article, Ms Cho has been the most influential figure in inflight retailing for several years, driving Korean Air to a near US$200 million business and one built on an obsession with excellence. This time it went too far. I hope she will return.
