Cabin crews from 3 airlines fly mixed teams

B737, A321 aircraft used in cross-fleet drill to verify integrated operations

Jin Air introduces A321CEO for the first time

Cabin crew members from the three airlines board a life raft during a water evacuation demonstration. [Jin Air]
Cabin crew members from the three airlines board a life raft during a water evacuation demonstration. [Jin Air]

Jin Air said Tuesday it had successfully completed a joint emergency evacuation demonstration conducted with Air Busan and Air Seoul ahead of the planned launch of a unified "integrated Jin Air."

The drill, held Monday in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, was organized under the supervision of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to verify that cabin crew members from all three airlines meet the same high standard of safety performance.

About 150 people attended, including ministry officials and executives from the three carriers. Sixteen cabin crew members drawn from Jin Air, Air Busan and Air Seoul flew in mixed teams, joined by eight Jin Air flight crew members.

Notably, the drill deployed both the B737-800 — a type not operated by Air Busan or Air Seoul — and Jin Air's newly introduced A321CEO simultaneously, putting crews' ability to handle different aircraft types to the test.

The demonstration was divided into two parts to assess real-world emergency response in detail.

The first part focused on verifying crews' knowledge of emergency equipment through an oral examination and a water-ditching demonstration. Under the supervision of ministry inspectors, crew members answered questions on essential emergency equipment before boarding a life raft in a simulated water-evacuation scenario and demonstrating their ability to use onboard survival gear.

The second part moved to full emergency evacuation drills tailored to each aircraft type. Crew members aboard the B737-800 carried out an evacuation simulating a rejected takeoff caused by an engine fire during the takeoff roll, completing inflation of the evacuation slide within 15 seconds.

Crew members aboard the A321CEO then performed a water-ditching drill, simulating an emergency ditching decision triggered by an engine fire during cruise. They completed cabin preparations within six minutes and inflated the slide within 15 seconds before finishing the full evacuation sequence.

With the drill complete, Jin Air will undergo a ministry-led "comprehensive check flight" on Thursday and Sept. 22. Eight cabin crew members from the three airlines, flying in mixed teams aboard both the B737-800 and the A321CEO, will be put through abnormal-situation scenarios that can arise during actual operations — a diversion due to weather or maintenance issues, aircraft performance problems before departure or in flight, an onboard emergency, and an in-flight security threat — to give the integrated operating system a final verification of its readiness.

"This was a process that objectively confirmed the safety capabilities of our integrated operating environment through the joint response of crew members from all three airlines, transcending aircraft-type boundaries," a Jin Air official said. "Even after the integrated Jin Air launches next year, we will continue to place safety as our top priority and maintain systematic training to firmly build customer trust."

Meanwhile, in line with the coming integrated Jin Air structure, Jin Air introduced the Airbus A321CEO for the first time on Friday. The move is intended to proactively strengthen safety and operational systems in preparation for the fleet diversification that will follow the unified carrier's launch. To that end, Jin Air has already established a mutual maintenance support framework with Air Busan.

The newly acquired A321CEO will enter full service from Oct. 1 after completing about three weeks of airworthiness inspections and 50 hours of test flights. With the addition, Jin Air's fleet stands at 33 aircraft as of this month. The airline also plans to introduce next-generation aircraft — the A321NEO and the B737-8 — before the end of the year.

At the same time, Jin Air will phase out older aircraft in stages to further advance fleet modernization and operational efficiency. The integrated Jin Air is expected to launch in March.


eyre@heraldcorp.com