22 sessions through Nov. 13

All flight crew from both carriers

Flight procedures and training to be unified

Mutual respect and open communication emphasized

Flight crew from Korean Air and Asiana Airlines pose for a photo at the joint pilot safety conference held Monday at Korean Air's headquarters in Gangseo-gu, Seoul. [Korean Air]
Flight crew from Korean Air and Asiana Airlines pose for a photo at the joint pilot safety conference held Monday at Korean Air's headquarters in Gangseo-gu, Seoul. [Korean Air]

With the launch of a combined carrier set for December, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines have begun aligning their pilots' flight safety standards, working to unify differing operating procedures and organizational cultures ahead of their merger.

Korean Air said Monday it had kicked off a joint pilot safety conference with Asiana Airlines at its headquarters in Gangseo-gu, Seoul. Held under the theme "Absolute Safety Through Unity," the series will run 22 sessions over roughly a month through Nov. 13, with all flight crew from both airlines required to attend.

The central goal is to merge the two carriers' separate safety standards and flight cultures into a single framework. The sessions focus on overhauling operating procedures and training methods to ensure a consistent level of safety after the integration.

The two airlines plan to share a unified safety benchmark — called "One Standard" — that will apply across the merged carrier, and to identify even minor procedural differences that could arise in the field. The aim is to minimize confusion that might stem from pilots being accustomed to different standards.

Organizational culture is also on the agenda. Korean Air has put forward "mutual respect" and "open communication" as core values for the combined airline, with the goal of helping pilots from different working environments narrow the gap in their practices and collaborate under the shared objective of safe flight operations.

The sessions will also address how to handle pilot errors. Korean Air plans to share case studies from its in-house just culture committee, emphasizing the principle of treating honest mistakes made on the job as opportunities for improvement rather than grounds for punishment.

Just culture is a framework in which pilots and other crew voluntarily report human errors that occur during operations; those reports are then analyzed to improve procedures or working conditions. The approach aims to reduce the concealment of mistakes driven by fear of punishment and to catch risk factors that could lead to accidents before they escalate.

The conference takes on added significance as it opens roughly two months before the planned merger. The two airlines are in the final stages of preparation, targeting Dec. 17 for the combined carrier's launch. Last month, the Korea Fair Trade Commission gave final approval to a plan to integrate the two carriers' mileage programs, and starting next month, Asiana Airlines flight numbers and reservation data are set to be transferred to Korean Air in phases.

However, challenges remain around workforce integration, including the adjustment of pilot seniority rankings. How smoothly the two carriers can merge their differing personnel systems and organizational cultures — not just their operating procedures — will be a key variable in the stable operation of the combined airline going forward.

"Mutual respect and open communication are the most powerful safety tools Korean Air has built up over decades," said Kim Hae-ryong, Korean Air's head of flight operations. "Building on Korean Air's proven advanced safety culture, we will fully integrate the crew of both airlines into one team and establish ourselves as a global carrier that passengers around the world can choose with the greatest confidence."


kwater@heraldcorp.com