South Korea has told its low-cost carriers to prioritize safety over profit after the crash that killed a Jeju Air flight in South Korea last month, in a bid to boost confidence in the country’s aviation industry.
In a meeting with South Korea’s nine budget airlines on Thursday, the Ministry of National Transportation demanded that they take steps to reduce flight hours, improve pilot training and increase the number of maintenance staff. The department has stopped short of issuing official policies, instead letting airlines make their own proposals.
Jeju Air said it will reduce the average daily flight time of its flights to 12.8 hours from 14 per day, according to the ministry. The freight company will also add 41 workers to increase the number to 350, he said.
The accident, in which a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 crashed into a concrete wall at Muan International Airport, killing 179 people, was South Korea’s worst aviation disaster. It was also the deadliest worldwide since Lion Air Flight 610 in 2018, when all 189 people on board died. Travel companies say people have canceled their trips in recent weeks, according to local media.
Although there is no evidence that improper maintenance or pilot error was the cause of the crash, investigators will look at all aspects of the plane. That includes the plane’s maintenance history and whether bird strikes knocked out its engines and electrical systems.
Airlines that do not pay attention to safety will be banned from travelers and disappear, the ministry said in a statement. It said it would suspend the pilot certificates of pilots who do not comply with safety regulations.
Low-cost carriers have grown rapidly over the past two decades despite a setback when travel collapsed during the pandemic. But they are facing cost pressures as they compete to lower ticket prices.
Some of the government’s proposed safety measures may have little impact on safety, but could help in ways such as reducing the workload of pilots and other workers to reduce the risk of fatigue leading to human error, aviation experts say.
“There’s not much you can do in an hour without basic safety checks,” said Kwon Bo Hun, a professor of aviation safety management at Far East University, referring to Jeju Air’s decision to reduce flight hours.
Officials said the plane that crashed was about 15 years old and had no accident history. Older aircraft are considered safer, but often require more maintenance.
Government demands may also raise the costs of competing airlines to offer low-cost travel. Increasing the size of maintenance crews, for example, will increase operating costs for airlines that operate on a no-frills service model, leading to higher ticket prices, experts say.
On Wednesday, the government announced plans to rehabilitate the infrastructure of the runways including the expansion of security areas and the construction of shelters, antenna arrays that help pilots to land, with highly flexible steel instead of concrete.
One subject of the investigation is the collapse of the concrete wall at Muan Airport that contained its sticks. Flight 7C2216 crashed into a concrete wall at high speed and exploded killing all but two passengers and crew.
A security inspection by the transport ministry a few weeks ago found that seven South Korean airports and several of the country’s airlines were in violation of existing security standards. Violations included failing to perform a safety check within the required time after takeoff and properly replacing filters in the aircraft’s hydraulic systems after overheating.
Source link
