The Korea Federations of Pilots' Unions (Federation of Pilots) noted that although a year has passed since the Jeju Air Flight 2216 disaster at Muan Airport, there has been no structural improvement to dangerous airports.
On the 28th, the Federation of Pilots stated accordingly in a statement marking the first anniversary of the Jeju Air Flight 2216 disaster at Muan Airport, saying, "None of us on the front lines—pilots, mechanics, and cabin crew who are directly responsible for passengers' lives and safety—can say aviation safety has changed." The federation emphasized, "Immediately after the crash, the Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) pledged, 'Although we lost the cow, we will at least fix the stable for sure,' and in April this year announced an aviation safety innovation plan. But despite the flashy title, nothing at the front lines has changed."
The federation explained, "Despite the urgent need to improve airport facilities, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) put forward as a measure an operational directive that shifts the risk onto highly experienced pilots instead of structural improvements at dangerous airports, and that directive remains in effect."
The federation argued that the risks of remaining localizer mounds, including at Muan Airport, and especially the H-beam steel obstacles at Jeju Airport used by countless people, are structural hazards that even the most skilled pilots cannot avoid. The federation said, "This amounts to leaving passengers' lives unattended, and Gimhae Airport has likewise been operated with public safety sidelined, only to undergo slapdash patchwork construction ahead of visits by major foreign leaders on the occasion of the APEC summit."
The federation pointed out that bird-strike prevention measures are no different. The federation rebuked, saying, "There is no analysis of the avian ecology at each airport, and there are no training and operational plans for permanent monitoring personnel. A 'plan' that is all slogans, without more, is nothing but a pie-in-the-sky measure that only wastes taxpayers' money." It added, "What is even more serious is that, although matters specified for decades in notices of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport were not properly implemented and led to accidents, as if there had been no regulations all along, only in Oct. last year did they attempt to revise the Enforcement Decree and Enforcement Rule of the Airport Facilities Act."
The federation also assessed that, even by the first anniversary of the crash, increases in the number of air traffic controllers were woefully below international standards and the accident investigation was disappointing. The results produced over the year amounted to just two inadequate safety recommendations, and even those were announced without proper explanations or press releases, leaving most of the public unaware that the safety recommendations had even been issued.
The federation said, "In 2026, the ICAO Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) is scheduled for the first time in 18 years since 2008," adding, "What the government must do now is make Korea's skies safe, not chase scores for USOAP with flashy, hasty safety policies and legal revisions."
Lastly, the federation conveyed, "We call on the government to immediately establish a structure in which the voices from the field are genuinely reflected—not a formal roundtable or showy plan—and to build a system in which on-site experience and advice lead to policy."