Asiana Union to Meet EU on 23rd... Conveys Opposition to 'Korean Air Merger'

Final Request for Disapproval Decision to the EU Planned

The Asiana Airlines Pilots Union (APU) will officially convey its opposition to the corporate merger with Korean Air to the European Union (EU) Commission next week.

According to industry sources and the union on the 19th, the Asiana Airlines Pilots Union will hold a two-hour meeting with the EU in Brussels, Belgium, on the 23rd.

Earlier, on the 11th, the union held a press conference urging the EU and the Korea Development Bank to reconsider the merger and acquisition from the beginning, stating that under no circumstances does the union support the merger.

On the EU side, the general manager in charge of the Korean Air-Asiana Airlines merger, the director of the competition division, and staff from the policy and merger departments will attend, while on the pilots union side, Chairman Choi Do-sung and other executives will participate.

On the afternoon of the 11th, Asiana Airlines union members and Asiana Airlines pilots union members shouted slogans at a press conference opposing the Korean Air-Asiana Airlines merger held at the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions in Jung-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

During this meeting, the union plans to point out the problems of the merger between the two companies and request that the EU make a final decision to disapprove it.

They also plan to explain issues such as the revision of the traffic rights allocation rules that allow Korean Air to reclaim four European passenger routes that were transferred to T'way Air, and the lack of communication during the employment succession process.

Starting from this day, the union has also launched a national petition to cancel the merger. According to the National Assembly's National Consent Petition website, the union argues that the merger should be stopped due to weakening competitiveness in the aviation industry, reduction of consumer choice, concerns over aviation safety, employment insecurity, and job losses.