S Korea's aviation strike drags on

Asiana Airlines executives and striking pilots failed to end a three-week-long walkout early yesterday in talks that had raised hopes for a conclusion to South Korea's worst-ever aviation strike after the government softened a threat to use emergency powers to halt it.

Asiana spokesman Oh Kyung-keun said that a marathon meeting that lasted into the early hours yesterday failed to achieve an agreement. He said Asiana president C.B. Park and other top executives would meet later yesterday to decide what to do next.

The government last week warned it was prepared to end the walkout if no conclusion was reached over the weekend. The labor ministry softened its tone on Sunday, saying that while it expected Asiana and the union would reach an agreement it remained prepared to step in.

No further talks were scheduled yesterday between the pilots and management, Asiana's Oh said. "It's a dangerous situation," he added.

The pilots' demands include fewer flying hours, more say in management decisions and a higher retirement age. Both sides have offered concessions, but not enough to end the walkout, now in its twenty-third day.

If the government intervenes, Asiana's union would have to immediately stop the strike for 30 days -- a step used in sectors considered critical to the national economy. The government has only invoked such powers twice: in 1993 during unrest at Hyundai Motor Co, and in 1969 at Korea Shipbuilding Corp.

For several days, Asiana president C.B. Park and other top executives have been trying to persuade union officials to end the strike, holding talks in a mountainous area in central South Korea where the pilots have established a base.

The talks have focused on so-called "deadhead" hours, the time spent traveling by air to locations from where pilots are scheduled to fly aircraft.

The pilots want that time to be counted as part of their total flying hours.

Asiana is the country's No. 2 carrier after rival Korean Air. Asiana's international destinations include New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Bangkok, New Delhi, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Sydney and Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

The strike, which began on July 17, has been costly for Asiana, forcing it to cancel all its cargo flights, over 1,800 domestic flights and more than 100 international passenger flights during the peak summer travel season.

The airline said on Sunday it was canceling a total of 314 international flights for the entire month of August, including service to Frankfurt, on Aug. 15, its first to Europe so far.