Air Busan CEO Han Tae-keun

By Park Jae-hyuk



Air Busan CEO Han Tae-keun has been in the hot seat for allegedly reprimanding a flight attendant who refused to provide preferential treatment to his acquaintance on board, the workers claimed Monday.



A user of Blind, an anonymous chat app for verified employees, posted a message that the acquaintance had tried to sit in an upgraded seat without paying for it, forcing a flight attendant to explain the company's policies to the passenger.



"Then, the passenger, who claimed to be Han's friend, got angry at the flight attendant," said the user who claimed to be an Air Busan employee. "The passenger made a call to Han, as soon as the plane landed."



According to the user, the CEO summoned the flight attendant to the company headquarters a day after the incident. He allegedly yelled at the supervisor of the flight as well.



"Although the flight attendant followed the manual, they were forced to write an apology and explanation," the Blind user said. "In addition, the company did not promote the worker who was supposed to get a promotion."



Air Busan admitted that the CEO's acquaintance was on board the plane departing from China, Dec. 17.



The budget carrier, however, claimed the passenger requested a seat change for leg pain, not because of his relationship with Han.



"The passenger revealed his relationship with our CEO, after our flight attendant refused the request," an Air Busan spokesman said. "The CEO reprimanded the employees for poor treatment of a patient, not for poor treatment of his friend."



The spokesman also admitted that the flight attendant was supposed to get a promotion in the latest reshuffle.



However, he cast suspicion about a hidden intention behind the revelation, citing the incident was revealed two weeks after it happened.



"The incident happened Dec. 17 and our company carried out the reshuffle last week," he said. "I think there's a hidden intention behind the revelation."



Air Busan, which was listed on the KOSPI on Dec. 27, has suffered a variety of scandals throughout 2018.



In July, the company came under criticism for its employee who hit a taxi driver with his BMW sedan at Gimhae International Airport in Busan.



The budget carrier was also embroiled in a controversy in April, as a flight attendant took photos of passengers from behind and posted them with disrespectful comments.

