SOUTH KOREA. Heather Cho, Korean Air’s Senior Vice President, Catering & In-Flight Sales Business Division – the driving force behind the airline’s travel retail success of recent years – has been indicted following a well-publicised incident onboard a Korean Air flight at New York JFK Airport on 5 December.
South Korean prosecutors claim the daughter of the Korean Air Chairman had obstructed aviation safety. After becoming upset that she had been offered Macadamia nuts in a packet instead of on a plate as the plane was taxiing to the runway, Ms Cho demanded that the aircraft return to the terminal to offload cabin manager Park Chang Jin.
The incident caused enormous controversy in South Korea. TV footage yesterday showed Ms Cho being led away by prosecutors, her head bowed, after being arrested for allegedly violating aviation safety law and impeding crew in their duties.
As reported, Ms Cho has resigned from her day-to-day executive roles with Korean Air.
COMMENT: 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; I have 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 bad mistake, for which she has apologised repeatedly – and for which she is being punished publicly, humiliatingly and unsparingly. That is surely enough for a mother of two young children in a world where more serious dismeanours are often treated much more lightly.
The videos of her media humiliation make deeply uncomfortable watching and do not reflect well on those who have turned the matter into a public witch-hunt. Once the chosen punishment is implemented, that should be the end of the matter.
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How BBC News Asia and Korean media reported the story |
