Airline scion flips out on flight attendant over macadamia nuts

[Maestro]

Airline scion flips out on flight attendant over macadamia nuts

By Chris Perez and Melkorka Licea December 8, 2014 | 1:43pm

That’s just nuts.

A Korean Air senior vice president on a plane leaving JFK flipped out and demanded the jet return to the airport because a flight attendant served her macadamia nuts without asking.

Heather Cho, who is also the eldest daughter of airline Chairman Cho Yang Ho, could face up to 10 years in prison for the Dec. 5 incident.

Read more: http://nypost.com/2014/12/08/airline-scion-flips-out-on-flight-attendant-over-macadamia-nuts/

New York Post 2014-12-08

[Costas2008]

What a moron..........

Nepotism is never good for companies.

She proved by her actions that she is not capable of being the vice president of this airline and she only got the job by being the daughter of the airline Chairman.

Hope the law gets tough on her.

[ABCer]

Airline scion flips out on flight attendant over macadamia nuts.

This is all about nuts... Has nothing to do with Macadamia nuts.

Edited December 9, 2014 by ABCer

[bruceky]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-leadership/wp/2014/12/08/korean-air-executive-goes-nuts-over-service-delays-plane/

Interesting... I don't think it was about the nuts but moreso about the fact that staff aren't doing what they should be doing from a management point of view. Not necessarily the way I'd go about it but it set an example I guess. We just flew back on a different airline where the purser of the flight was a grumpy old bat whose first reaction to everything was 'no' (in business class) while the rest of the staff were actually quite good.

[harrry]

Problem is as has been stated on another forum that the person removed from flight for interfering with flight crew was the lady who complained. They relate it to a problem of defering to seniors and a safety problem and compare it with the captain being overiden in a past incident when a fire warning went off and he was ordered to continue to his destination, a remote pacific island strip when he was very near a major airfield he could have landed as it was closer and procedures required landing at the nearest airlfield.

[Huk]

What a moron..........

Nepotism is never good for companies.

She proved by her actions that she is not capable of being the vice president of this airline and she only got the job by being the daughter of the airline Chairman.

Hope the law gets tough on her.

Perhaps a little too quick in reacting? The Washington Post story paints a different picture. Without knowing the details of the discussion between this board member and the Purser we can't determine if this was an object lesson to flight crews or an over the top response. Given that the crew member ejected was the Purser, not the hostess, I suspect it was more about following procedures than about whether she wanted nuts or not.

Airlines exist because of profits from up the front of the plane and this was her direct area of responsibility. Without knowing more it is not possible to say whether tou or I would have reacted the same way.

Edited December 9, 2014 by Huk

[ezzra]

Prima Macadamia... what a douche of a person, disgusting....

[Chicog]

Perhaps a little too quick in reacting?

I don't think so.

You reckon the Chairman's daughter made VP on merit?

Besides which the Captain should have told her to stick it, he's in charge of the aircraft not some bimbo who got a cushy job through daddy.

I would have had the fugly moose arrested at JFK.

[bkk_mike]

Reading the Washington post side of the story, this sounds more like a lady who is in charge of customer service for the airline got bad service and ejected the person in the crew that was responsible for it (the purser - NOT the flight attendant who gave her the nuts).

I.e. the issue would appear to be the purser's attitude to their job, rather than the woman's one.

The plane wasn't in the air, and if it took 2 minutes to get back to the gate, it probably wasn't on the runway either. Saying it had to return to the airport makes people think it was already in the air and turned around. Journalism at the level we've come to expect from tabloids?

Edited December 9, 2014 by bkk_mike

[BeforeTigers]

Maybe she forgot she wasn't in Korea.

No worries.
Money talks in America just as well as it does in Asia.

[lannarebirth]

I don't like KAL, never have. OTOH my wife loves it, for reasons I just can't discern. Her last trip back to Thailand I put her on an Emirates flight, Even though they took the "long way 'round" she still got to Thailand cheaper,quicker and more comfortably than she would have if she'd taken KAL. Not to mention KAL always screws you on your frequent flier miles.

[impulse]

We just flew back on a different airline where the purser of the flight was a grumpy old bat whose first reaction to everything was 'no' (in business class) while the rest of the staff were actually quite good.

Sounds like United.

[Gsxrnz]

I wonder if all airlines have specific guidelines for handling ones nuts?

[SOTIRIOS]

.....it sure will send a clear message to the rest of the staff....

[tifino]

...yeah! make sure it aint a male hostie handling my nuts...

[lannarebirth]

Well, there you go:

http://www.businessinsider.com/korean-air-lines-exec-who-fired-a-crew-member-over-macadamia-nuts-has-resigned-2014-12

[Scott]

I have a strong dislike for people who abuse power. I hope she does jail time, but she won't.

[Chicog]

Well at least the entitled hag had the common sense to get lost, or her dad had the sense to sack her.

A Korean Air Lines executive has resigned amid mounting public criticism after she delayed a flight in a row over how she was served macadamia nuts.

Company officials said the chairman, Cho Yang-ho, had accepted the resignation of Cho Hyun-ah, his eldest daughter and an executive vice-president.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/09/korean-airline-executive-resigns-nuts-row?

[ABCer]

Whatever she is,

Whoever she is,

Whatever her issue was -

Only a Captain of the vessel can decide to turn around

(unless she had The Belt... you know...)

A good spanking is in order.

Edited December 10, 2014 by Scott

[anon022]

It serves to show that North and South Korea could easily reunite. Their "subjects" are both very well accustomed to the idea they are but tiny work ants in the grand scheme of things!

[impulse]

Well at least the entitled hag had the common sense to get lost, or her dad had the sense to sack her.

A Korean Air Lines executive has resigned amid mounting public criticism after she delayed a flight in a row over how she was served macadamia nuts.

Company officials said the chairman, Cho Yang-ho, had accepted the resignation of Cho Hyun-ah, his eldest daughter and an executive vice-president.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/09/korean-airline-executive-resigns-nuts-row?

Not so fast...

Heather Cho, whose Korean name is Cho Hyun-ah, resigned Tuesday from the airline's catering and in-flight sales business, and its cabin service and hotel business divisions, an airline spokesman said.

But she is keeping her title as a vice president of the national carrier, he said.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/09/world/asia/korean-air-nuts-scandal/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

[Chicog]

Unbelievable. So she'll still draw a fat salary and perks then. I hope the Koreans are baying for blood.

As for the airline:

Korean Air also apologized for any discomfort to those on the flight and said there had been no safety issues involved. The plane arrived at its destination only 11 minutes behind schedule, according to Yonhap.

"Even though it was not an emergency situation, backing up the plane to order an employee to deplane was an excessive act," the airline said in a statement.

"We will reeducate all our employees to make sure service within the plane meets high standards."

I bet not one passenger even noticed, or gives a toss what she got her knickers in a twist about.

[bangon04]

Korean Air also apologized for any discomfort to those on the flight and said there had been no safety issues involved. The plane arrived at its destination only 11 minutes behind schedule, according to Yonhap.

"Even though it was not an emergency situation, backing up the plane to order an employee to deplane was an excessive act," the airline said in a statement.

"We will reeducate all our employees to make sure service within the plane meets high standards."

mmm Re-education... just like the North Korean model?

[richusa]

1st, they should have known who she was. 2nd, in 1st class/business class........you don't throw down a bag of nuts.......she was right in one sense, but could have took her aside after the plane was about to land, and told her.......<deleted> are you doing?

[LawrenceChee]

Interesting way to ensure customer service is at the tops

However understanding Korean culture , withholding my personal or disgust opinion of abuse of power or throwing weight around ...this seems pretty normal and you see this at the hiso Thai stuff environments as well

I like the color of their uniforms ...I know it's lame but that sky blue is so pretty with the TV and the cabin some things are rather superficial

[ggt]

Thanks for a good laugh out loud...

There were more nuts on the plane...than the macadamias...

[cookee68]

There is a place and a time to deal with things like this, not to just throw a tantrum because of who you are, why did she not consider the other passengers on the plane and how they would feel over her out burst, they should have turned back and dumped her off on her arse,

[Chicog]

I used to date the head of cabin crew for a major Gulf airline, and if she saw something wrong she would wander to the galley and discuss it in private, not act like a spoilt bitch.

The first thing they need to do is promote the best and/or most experienced Cabin Services Manager from one of the aircraft into the job - they know what the problems are and how to fix them without making a drama out of it.

I bet every single one of the cabin crew on Korean are partying tonight barring the odd one who might have got a promotion by kissing her scrawny behind.

Edited December 9, 2014 by Chicog

[PMZ]

Reading the Washington post side of the story, this sounds more like a lady who is in charge of customer service for the airline got bad service and ejected the person in the crew that was responsible for it (the purser - NOT the flight attendant who gave her the nuts).

I.e. the issue would appear to be the purser's attitude to their job, rather than the woman's one.

The plane wasn't in the air, and if it took 2 minutes to get back to the gate, it probably wasn't on the runway either. Saying it had to return to the airport makes people think it was already in the air and turned around. Journalism at the level we've come to expect from tabloids?

It does not really matter if it was about nuts or poor customer service, this was simply a juvenile, arrogant and ridiculous way to manage the matter.

As a senior member of the management team she should have instigated a review and disciplinary action when all were at the destination.

Disrupting the flight, the air traffic, the other passengers etc was mindless. She is a disgrace.

The Captain is also at fault, he is in charge of the ship at that stage and he should have forced her to manage herself properly and moved along.Turning back over a matter like this is a very poor judgement call for a pilot.

All in all, a horrible show for an International airline.

[Torrens54]

The lead story here may be a tad wrong.

According to most Reliable News Reports, the "Hissy Fit" was caused NOT because the attendant served the Nuts without asking but... because they were handed to the "Old Bag" in a BAG and NOT in a Glass Bowl.