Korean Air has officially announced that it will completely review the mileage reorganization plan that was supposed to take effect on April 1.
This is because the level of pressure is formidable, with the government and the National Assembly going beyond consumer complaints.
According to Korean Air on the 22nd, it has decided to postpone the implementation of the mileage deduction plan, which was supposed to be implemented from April 1st.(Exclusive report from the Kyunghyang Shinmun on February 20th). Korean Air has come up with additional consumer benefits, such as the use of mileage during the off-season and peak season and the operation of mileage-only flights, but it eventually backed down due to pressure from the government and politicians.
Previously, Korean Air presented a reform plan to change the mileage deduction standard from ‘region’ to ‘operating distance’ starting in April. Mileage was deducted for one domestic flight and four international flight regions: Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia, Americas, Europe, and Oceania, but from now on, the goal is to subdivide in proportion to the distance traveled. In this case, the deduction rate was reduced for short-distance routes such as Japan, China, and Southeast Asia, while long-distance routes required more mileage.
In response, consumers protested, saying that there are alternative flights, such as low-cost airlines, for short routes such as Japan, but there are not enough mileage seats for long-distance routes.
The government and politicians have come under strong pressure. On the 15th, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong said, “Airline mileage is a so-called ‘light apricot’ where it is difficult to accumulate and there is no place to use it. It also needs to be supplemented,” he criticized. On the 19th, “Korean Air came up with a plan to buy complaints, even though it couldn’t hold a thank you promotion with tears of gratitude to customers for helping them survive during the COVID-19 period.” I hope that the complaints will be resolved at the source,” he emphasized.
The ruling party also raised the level of criticism. The power of the people ordered Korean Air to review the mileage deduction plan.
Currently, the Fair Trade Commission is reviewing Korean Air’s mileage reform plan.
Meanwhile, apart from this review, Korean Air plans to expand the supply of bonus seats, various mileage discount promotions, and expand the use of mileage (in-flight duty-free purchases, etc.). ‘Cash & Miles’, a mileage complex payment service, will be operated in March by adding dollars as a payment currency.
