Recently, as climate change has led to a series of aircraft turbulence accidents, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has recommended that all domestic airlines suspend cup ramen service. The recommendation is to suspend the service for all seats, regardless of seat type, including economy and business class. However, Korean Air, which announced on the 15th that it would suspend cup ramen service only for economy class, stated, “We have not officially reviewed suspending ramen service for business and first class.”
On the 15th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced ‘Aircraft Turbulence Accident Prevention Measures’ that included suspension of cup ramen service and suspension of duty-free sales during turbulence. Turbulence is a phenomenon in which the flow of air moves unpredictably and unstable. When an aircraft encounters turbulence, it may flutter or descend sharply. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, there were 111 turbulence-related aviation accidents worldwide in the past three years (2021-2023), accounting for 61.7% of all accidents (180 cases). In the past five years and six months (2019-June of this year), there were seven domestic airline turbulence accidents, accounting for 70% of all accidents (10 cases). Domestic airline turbulence reports increased by 78% from 8,287 cases in the first half of 2019 (January-June) to 14,820 cases in the first half of this year.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport first recommended all domestic airlines to stop providing in-flight services such as hot soup and tea. This includes the recently controversial cup ramen service. A Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport official said, “We recommended that the service be stopped for all seats, not just economy class.”
Earlier on the 1st of this month, Korean Air announced that it would discontinue cup ramen service in economy class starting on the 15th. However, it was met with backlash from some customers when it announced that it would maintain the service in upper classes such as business class. Regarding the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s recommendation, Korean Air stated, “We have not officially reviewed discontinuing ramen service in business or first class.” A Korean Air official explained, “In economy class, the seats are more crowded and the tables are smaller than in upper class, so if a burn occurs from ramen, it causes more damage to nearby passengers than to the passenger eating it,” adding, “On the other hand, in upper class, most burns from ramen tend to be limited to the passenger eating it.”
In addition, a standard procedure will be established to immediately stop cabin services such as in-flight meals and duty-free sales when turbulence is encountered. Considering that turbulence frequently occurs during the landing process, it is recommended that in-flight services be completed 40 minutes before landing for medium and long-haul routes and 15 minutes before landing for short-haul routes. This is up to 20 minutes earlier than before when the service ends.
We will also enhance the response capabilities of aviation workers. Starting next month, a new ‘turbulence subject’ will be added to the regular training course for pilots and flight attendants. We will strengthen the education and training for cabin crews to respond to turbulence scenarios. We will support the use of private paid turbulence forecast services, which are currently used only by some domestic airlines, so that all 11 domestic airlines can use them. Currently, Korean Air and Jin Air use the ‘Turbulence Awareness Platform’ (ITA) of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), while Asiana Airlines and T’way Air use a different warning system, ‘WSI-TTA’. We plan to increase the accuracy of turbulence forecasts by having all 11 domestic airlines participate in the ‘Sharing System for Hazardous Weather Information’ of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which only Korean Air and Jin Air are participating in, by next month. A Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport official said, “We will promote a plan to provide incentives for safety scores in the allocation review of transportation rights (operation rights allocated by the government to airlines) when using the turbulence forecast service.”
Reporter Choi Dong-su [email protected]
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2024-08-16 13:00:46