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The Asiana Airlines pilot strike went into its 18th day on Thursday, having long left the world aviation industry¡¯s 15-day record in the last decade behind. Losses from the walkout are said to have reached W200 billion (US$200 million), but more fatal is the loss of international credibility, the lifeline of a carrier. That is a loss that cannot be assessed in money. Memories of world-class airlines that went bankrupt over unreasonable union strikes come to mind unbidden.
A spokesman of the pilots union of America¡¯s No.2 carrier United Airlines, during salary negotiations in the summer of 2000, declared, "We don't want to kill the goose that lays the golden egg, but we will strangle it to the end." Management finally succumbed to the union's demand for a 28 percent wage hike after the pilots' three-month sabotage grounded thousands of flights, reduced the regular flight rate to 40 percent and caused losses of $700 million. The union's victory was followed by another loss of $600 million during the first half of the following year. When the recession in the aviation industry and the fallout from 9/11 terrorism came, UA declared bankruptcy. That was the end of the goose.
Airlines must maximize the operational rate of aircraft, each of which costs at least $100 million, and as a result they are at the mercy of pilots and ground staff. Nor can they easily replace highly skilled pilots. But the 300-plus Asiana pilots taking advantage of their employer¡¯s weakness are strangling the life support of 7,000 fellow employees. They are in effect forcing management and fellow workers to join them in a mass suicide. That their public image is not at its best is consequently no surprise.
The government has so far sat back and watched. It cannot afford do so any longer. It must bring both sides back to the negotiating table before the corpses pile up.
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