The Fair Trade Commission also rejected the revised plan Korean Air submitted for integrating Asiana Airlines' mileage program. Earlier, Korean Air submitted an integration plan, and when it was not accepted, it filed a revised version, which has now been turned down again. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) is said to have taken issue with the limited number of seats available for purchase or upgrades using Asiana miles.
On the 22nd, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said, "We asked Korean Air to resubmit within one month (regarding the mileage integration plan) after supplementing measures to manage the supply of bonus seats and seat upgrade services using miles." The FTC's decision reflects the outcome of a full commission meeting on the 10th.
Earlier, as it merged with Asiana Airlines, Korean Air said it would not cancel Asiana miles but convert them into Korean Air miles at a set ratio. Miles are accrued when purchasing airline tickets or using co-branded credit cards, and customers can use the accumulated miles to buy new tickets or upgrade purchased seats.
This FTC decision stems from the view that Asiana miles are recognized at only 82% when converted to Korean Air miles and that redemption options are insufficient. In an integration plan submitted in September, Korean Air said, "We will maintain the number of bonus award seats by route at or above 2019 levels and keep the overall total at 2024 levels."
As Korean Air already revised the integration plan once in June after an FTC rejection, it is expected to embark on another round of revisions. At the time, the FTC said the reason for rejection was that "there were somewhat insufficient details regarding the specific explanation of the mileage integration ratio." In response, Korean Air applied the same conversion ratio without distinguishing between "flight miles," accrued by purchasing tickets, and "partner miles," accrued by using co-branded credit cards and the like.
However, the specific conversion ratios Korean Air presented to the FTC at that time were not disclosed. Three months after the FTC's pointed remarks, Korean Air submitted a revised integration plan stating it would apply a 1-to-1 ratio for flight miles and a 1-to-0.82 (Korean Air:Asiana) ratio for partner miles. The plan the FTC has now rejected is this revised integration plan. The FTC said, "We will work to ensure approval of a plan that satisfies all air travel consumers."