Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
Yesterday we brought you the story of a Korean Air vice president who ordered a flight she was on back to the gate at John F. Kennedy International Airport to have a flight attendant removed after a dispute about a package of nuts.
Make that a former vice president.
Heather Cho, the daughter of airline chairman Cho Yang Ho, resigned this morning after the incident received international headlines. In media reports, she was also referred to as Cho Hyun-ah.
Last Friday, as a Korean Air flight from JFK to Seoul, South Korea boarded and was pulling back from the gate, Cho was given macadamia nuts as a snack. The flight attendant did not ask Cho if she wanted the nuts, and they were given to her still in the bag and not served on a plate, as per Korean Air protocol.
Cho then asked to see the chief flight attendant and told him to bring out the procedure manual. When he failed to find the guide, and gave Cho what Korean Air said in a statement were "lies and excuses" to questions she had, Cho had the taxiing stop and ordered the plane returned to the gate - and the chief flight attendant to be removed.
Cho not only came under media scrutiny and public criticism, but transportation authorities in South Korea openly questioned whether she broke any laws by flouting her authority.
"Even though it was not an emergency situation, backing up the plane to order an employee to deplane was an excessive act," the airline said in a statement. "We will re-educate all our employees to make sure service within the plane meets high standards."
That statement immediately drew rebuke from the Korean Air pilots' union, which criticized the airline and said it wa trying to shift the blame to the flight crew.
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