Broadcaster Park Soo-hong delayed the departure time by reversing his decision to disembark the plane, causing controversy, and Korean Air Lines' stance has been made public, drawing attention.
On the 26th, Korean Air Lines told the press, "When a passenger voluntarily requests to deplane, we respond according to procedure and principle," and added, "We responded according to principle in this case as well."
Recently on online communities, a post spread saying that on the 23rd they boarded the same Guam-bound flight as Park Soo-hong's family and suffered delays. At the time, after boarding the plane, Park Soo-hong said he intended to disembark because his child was crying, and when baggage unloading had proceeded to the point of moving luggage, the child stopped crying and he reversed his decision, saying he would reboard. Eventually the airline went through the procedure of reloading the luggage, and because of this the plane's departure was delayed by about an hour. However, the arrival time in Guam was confirmed to be 31 minutes later, a shorter delay.
Photos showing luggage that appeared to belong to Park Soo-hong's family and videos of Park Soo-hong repeatedly apologizing to other passengers on the plane spread and drew attention. Some criticized Park Soo-hong's actions as a "public nuisance" for not considering the inconvenience to other passengers, and further reactions followed that the airline's acceptance of his reversed decision to disembark for personal reasons amounted to preferential treatment for a celebrity.
Amid this, Korean Air Lines conveyed that this incident was not preferential treatment for a celebrity. Park Soo-hong's family only expressed an intention to disembark; they did not actually leave the cabin and then reboard. According to Exports News, Korean Air Lines said that by regulation, even if a passenger expresses an intention to deplane while in the cabin, if they have not gone outside the aircraft they may reverse that decision. The situation with Park Soo-hong's family falls under this and the airline acted according to principle.
However, if baggage handling and related procedures have already begun, time may be required in that process. Accordingly, a delay code covering passenger-related operations was applied to the flight Park Soo-hong's family was on. The code includes publicity, passenger convenience, provision of passenger meals, lost-and-found handling, special handling, and reportedly 'in-cabin search due to passenger deplaning' is also included as a detailed reason for delay. In the end, it was not an exceptional convenience granted because they were Park Soo-hong's family, but a situation permitted within the prescribed regulations.
Meanwhile, Park Soo-hong posted an apology on the 26th about the in-flight nuisance controversy. He said that as soon as they boarded the plane his child cried so much that he was flustered and made an immature judgment. He said, "I told the cabin crew I intended to get off because I thought the child's crying during the long flight would cause greater harm to the passengers." He conveyed that while waiting in the cabin (to deplane) the child stopped crying and he expressed his intention to reboard, but he did not realize that this could greatly delay security checks and other procedures.
He added, "This happened entirely because of my ignorance of airline procedures and there is no excuse," and bowed his head, saying, "Once again, I deeply apologize to the passengers and airline staff who suffered significant inconvenience because of my shortcomings."
[photo] OSEN DB, Park Soo-hong SNS
[OSEN]