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S Korea looks set to end strike by pilots quickly

South Korea appeared determined yesterday to quickly end a strike by unionized pilots at Korean Air Co, the nation's largest airline and the world's biggest air-cargo carrier.

Minister of Construction and Transport Choo Byung-jik said that he would ask Labor Minister Kim Dae-hwan later yesterday to invoke the government's special powers to end the walkout, which began early yesterday.

Unionized pilots at Korean Air's smaller rival, Asiana Airlines Inc, staged a 25-day strike that ended on Aug. 10. The government ultimately used its special powers to intervene and ended the walkout -- a step used for industries considered critical to the national economy.

Choo's comment shows that the government is unlikely to wait that long to end the strike at Korean Air, where a work stoppage was certain to cause problems for South Koreans traveling overseas ahead of the year-end holidays, and could hurt the country's exports -- a key source of economic growth.

According to a Korean Air estimate, about 70 percent of the carrier's operations will have to be suspended due to the strike.

Korean Air said yesterday that it canceled a total of 204 passenger and cargo flights on the first day of the walkout, suspending about 53 percent of scheduled flights.

That included 30 international passenger flights, 150 domestic passenger flights and 24 cargo flights, the company said.

The airline's canceled overseas passenger destinations include Tokyo, Los Angeles, Dallas, Beijing and Shanghai and San Francisco, among others.

Korean Air expects to incur losses and additional expenses of 25.3 billion won (US$24.4 million) a day.

Park Byung-ryul, the union's spokesman, said 1,344 of the airline's 1,980 pilots belong to the union. He said about 500 union members had gathered together near Incheon International Airport near Seoul.

He also said it would take several days before the union would know how many members would decide to join the walkout.

The union is demanding an 8 percent hike in annual wages, while the airline has offered a 3 percent increase, the company and union said on Wednesday.

Korean Air said the union's demands are unacceptable considering high fuel costs and the unfavorable business environment facing the airline.

Last year, captains earned an average of 120 million won in annual pay, according to the airline. First officers earned 88 million won.

The airline's extensive overseas passenger destinations include Chicago, London, New York, Moscow, Istanbul, Los Angeles, Vladivostok, Tokyo, Toronto, Honolulu and Sydney.
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