Following its review into a petition lodged by four female applicants that attacked Asiana’s policy of not allowing women 26 or older to take the test, the commission found the practice to violate women’s right to equal employment.

The Commission has already dismissed claims from the airline industry that the age restriction is necessary in terms of manpower supply and demand planning, time and money spent on training, and establishing seniority or rank. It sees no basis for carriers’ claim that when older people join the company, their service will be shorter and thus reduce the efficiency of human resources management.

Asiana Airlines’ homepage outlines its strict age limit of 24 on hiring.

In the midst of the county’s low birthrate and aging population, the government is moving forward with policies to do away with the age discrimination policy. The Commission said it took consideration of the fact that most public firms here got rid of age restrictions on applicants for positions or, as is the case with foreign airlines, kept them in a more limited capacity. An insider with the Commission says, “After looking at the age restrictions imposed on applicants to 25 different airlines from 18 countries, we determined that Korean Air and Asiana have the most severe restrictions.”

For international routes Asiana requires that its applicants have graduated from a four-year university course and be no more than 24 years old (only women born after Jan. 1, 1982) while Korean Air accepts no one over 25 (only those born after Jan. 1, 1981). Accordingly, 23 year-old women, who have graduated from four-year universities and were born in 1983, only have two chances to apply at Asiana. So if an applicant has had to repeat the college entrance exam, or has taken a year to travel abroad for language study, their chance will either have decreased or disappeared completely.

The regulations on hiring are shown on Air Canada homepage. There is no age stipulation, save for a minimum, which is a stark contrast to Korea’s homegrown carriers.

Women barred from working for the national airlines owing to the age cap, in turn, apply at other overseas airlines.

Other International carriers take a different stance on applicant’s age restrictions. Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines have no age limit, American Airlines of the U.S. is open to anybody aged over 19, whilst Untied Airline and Air Canada just focus on applicant’s experience. Communication skills like command of foreign language are considered important; though it appears the mention of age itself is taboo. Among Asian-Middle East major airlines, Emirates Airlines of the UAE and Cathay Pacific of Hong Kong have no age limit on applications. Qatar Airways has an age limit of 30, Malaysia Airlines, 28, Thai Air, Philippine Air, Vietnam Airlines have age limits of 26.

Criticism from women’s circles has rained down on the domestic airlines’ move to hire only ‘young ladies’. One housewife Gang Soo-mi (32) argued, “When I was in my 20s, I had to give up my dream of being a flight attendant because of the age limit. In times when age is just a number, it is anachronistic for the airlines to try to hire only young women, citing the problems with the employee ranking system.”

Websites dedicated to flight attendant test preparation, are flooded with posts welcoming the NHRC's move. One post reads, “For a long time, people have been saying that it is discrimination, now finally the day has come. I hope there will be an immediate change.” Another reads, “This is just a recommendation, I don’t think it will change any time soon. A corrective measure needs to be implemented to have a legal effect.”

The various portal sites carry similar opinions from their users such as, “When I’ve traveled with foreign airlines including Lufthansa, and Air France, I saw many flight attendants who look to be in their 30’s or 40s. I don’t think it will be a problem if flight attendants are married women. The bottom line is if they serve passengers well and with a smile”

(englishnews@chosun.com )