The "salted nuts scandal" surrounding the egregious behavior on board by Korean Air Vice President Cho Hyun Ah continues to escalate. Now the reputation of the entire company as a whole was under attack, which, as it turns out, until the last moment tried to shield its superiors, and also tried to silence possible witnesses and participants in the incident. According to people on the plane, Cho insulted, hit and pushed the flight attendant and the stewardess several times. The belated apologies of the main culprit of the incident and the head of the holding cannot yet change the extremely negative attitude of the public.

Recall that the incident occurred on December 5 on board the liner of the South Korean company Korean Air, which followed the route KE086 New York - Incheon. The plane, which had begun to depart from the terminal, unexpectedly returned back to the "sleeve", after which the senior flight attendant descended from the liner. As it turned out, the initiator of such zigzags of the aircraft was the vice-president of Korean Air, 40-year-old Cho Hyun-ah, who was also the eldest daughter of the chairman of the board of directors of the holding, who was among the passengers. Cho, who was in the first class cabin, didn't like the way the flight attendant treated her. A package of salted nuts was placed in front of Cho, when according to the rules they should have been placed on a plate. The vice president, according to eyewitnesses, threw a scandal, raised a cry and eventually ordered the liner to be returned to the terminal and the senior flight attendant to be put down. As a result of the incident, the flight was delayed by 20 minutes, and the plane arrived at its destination 11 minutes late. This incident immediately became one of the main news stories in Korea, dubbed the "salted nuts scandal".

Departure under the pressure of public criticism of Cho Hyun Ah from all posts in the company, apologies from her, as well as the head of the Hanjin holding, who called her daughter's behavior "stupid", cannot calm the Koreans. A new reason for indignation was given by the results of a survey of witnesses and participants in the incident conducted in the prosecutor's office and the Ministry of Transport. Despite fears that people will be afraid to go against the leadership of a large company, they started talking. Senior flight attendant Park Chang-jin, who was dropped off the plane by Jo Hyun-A, stated that the situation was as follows. When the vice president began to blast the stewardess, Puck came over and apologized. Cho made both the senior flight attendant and the stewardess look up the passenger service rules. However, when Cho was handed the file with documents, she continued to swear loudly, picked up the stewardess who was sitting on her knees and began to push her and the chief flight attendant to the cockpit. In the process, the vice president hit Park Chan-jin's arm several times, pushed the stewardess on the shoulder again, and threw a file of documents against the wall next to her. In front of the cockpit, Park said, the vice president said, "Contact the pilot immediately and stop the plane. I won't let the plane take off." At first, Cho wanted to drop the stewardess, but then she said the following, referring to the senior flight attendant: "Actually, it's your fault too, so you get off." After that, the plane was returned to the sleeve, and the flight attendant left the liner.

Speaking to reporters, Park said that the flight attendant was extremely frightened, and the passengers of the liner, including those who were sitting in the usual cabin, were stunned, but because of the loud voice of the vice president, everyone heard. After the incident in the first class cabin, Cho casually said, "I'm sorry about the noise."

For her part, after interrogation, ex-Vice President Cho Hyun Ah denied everything that was said, telling reporters that for the first time she heard about insults and the use of physical force on her part.

Nevertheless, the flight attendant and the stewardess provided the investigators with approximately the same picture. Their words were at least partially confirmed by a 32-year-old passenger named Pak, who was sitting right in front of Cho. She said that Cho screamed very loudly, frightening the passengers, pushed the stewardess and threw the file with documents against the wall of the liner.

Further details of the incident, which became known to the media, further angered the public. Despite all the denials from Korean Air, it now appears that the company tried to shield the vice president by shifting all the blame to the flight attendant and flight attendant. Employees of the company claim that the entire crew was taken away after the incident Cell phones to find out who leaked information about the scandal to the media. According to the senior flight attendant Pak Chang-jin, 5-6 employees of the company later came to him, saying that he must confirm the version of the company and lie, admitting his guilt. "The person in charge at the Ministry of Transport comes from our company, so in case of problems, he will help us," Pacu said. He, however, decided not to remain silent.

Passenger Park also stated that Korean Air also came to her, asking her to side with Jo Hyun Ah and say that she had apologized enough. “I was outraged by this approach. She didn’t apologize at all,” Park told reporters, presenting investigators with a picture of the incident, which confirms the words of Park Chang-jin and the flight attendant.

In addition, during the searches conducted at the headquarters of Korean Air, materials were obtained that prove the company's desire to completely "cover" the vice president and shift all responsibility to ordinary employees.

The main question now is who actually gave the order to deploy the aircraft. The fact is that only the captain of the liner can command on board, and everyone else, including the company's management, are ordinary passengers. An attempt to interfere with management can be punished up to a prison term. The return of the liner to the sleeve can only be justified for safety reasons or an emergency. The issue with the layout of nuts in front of passengers is difficult to attribute to this category of cases. Korean Air and Cho Hyun Ah, knowing full well what threatens the vice president, unanimously stated that the decision to return the liner "was made after consultations with the commander, and the order was given by the commander of the liner." However, now everything is going to the fact that the commander was simply afraid to disobey Cho Hyun-ah, who was very influential and who was predicted to be the president of the company in the near future, who was scandalous on board.

As a result, when ordinary passengers of the liner began to speak against the version of the company and management, today Korean Air went on the defensive, saying that it "cannot comment on the incident, since the investigation is still ongoing."

Now it is obvious that the "salted nuts scandal" has already reached a qualitatively new level and does not concern only the behavior of one of the leaders. The strongest damage was done to the reputation of the country's main air carrier as a whole, which is Korean Air. Ordinary Koreans, the media and experts are outraged by the company's desire to hush up the scandal and blame ordinary employees. A sarcastic video titled "Nuts Air" appeared on the Internet and gained great popularity, in which the consonance of the Korean words "salted nuts" and "Korean" is played up. In the recording, in the voice of a regular commercial, Korean Air promises to "feed nuts in at its best", clearly alluding to the scandal.

One after another, other unpleasant facts about the company began to emerge. It is noted that the rights of employees in the firm are regularly violated, and Cho Hyun Ah always quarreled on board. “When she flies, the whole crew is on pins and needles. She constantly found fault with something and threw tantrums,” said one of former employees companies. In addition, all the apologies and resignations for Cho Hyun Ah and her father, the head of the Hanjin holding, Cho Yang Ho, clearly look forced. They wanted to keep Cho in the leadership until the last, noting that she "although she made some noise, she should have pointed out the wrong service."

Koreans, on the other hand, say that Cho should have apologized from the very beginning, and not now, when all the ugly ins and outs of the scandal began to emerge. In addition, Cho was stubbornly silent for several days and did not react to the noise that began. According to South Korean media, on Sunday, December 14, Cho Hyun Ah and company employees tried to visit the homes of a flight attendant and a flight attendant to apologize in person. Those, as stated, "were not at home, and therefore the former vice president Cho left a personal letter of apology." It is noted that Cho will once again attempt to personally apologize. Prior to this, the father apologized for Cho, admitting that he "raised his children poorly," and called his daughter's behavior "stupid."

But this for ordinary Koreans looks already belated. According to the media and experts, "South Korea's main air carrier is in crisis, and once again because of the actions of the management and the approach of the company as a whole." It is possible that major changes are coming to Korean Air in an attempt to somehow restore the public's trust and eliminate a serious blow to its reputation.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption For delaying the plane of her own airline, her former top manager Cho Hyun (center) was sentenced to a year in prison

Former Korean Air executive Cho Hyun was found guilty of violating aviation laws and sentenced to a year in prison.

In early December last year, Cho Hyun caused a stir when a business-class flight attendant mistook the destination of an order and served Cho nuts that she did not ask for, and even in the package, and not on a plate, as required by Korean Air protocol.

Cho Hyun is the daughter of the head of Korean Air, Cho Yang-ho, and at that moment she served as the vice president of the airline.

She ordered that the plane flying from New York to Seoul postponed takeoff, and the senior flight attendant was removed from the flight.

Serving error

The court order states that Cho Hyun has "outraged human dignity" with her behavior.

According to the judge, Cho acted like it was her private jet.

"It is highly doubtful that the serving of nuts was such a gross mistake," the judge said.

Even before the trial began, Jo Hyun issued a public apology for her behavior and resigned from the company.

However, in his verdict, the judge noted that Cho showed insufficient remorse.

As a result, the court found the woman guilty of violating aviation security rules, assault and interference in the investigation.

In addition, one of the witnesses said that Cho Hyun hit a crew member with an airline internal instruction booklet.

Prosecutors demanded that Cho be sentenced to three years in prison.

In turn, Cho's defense insisted that safety rules had not been violated - at the time of the incident, the plane was being towed from the airport gate to the runway.

The judge did not take into account this argument, since the official status of the flight was already "in flight".

Image copyright AP Image caption Dressed in all black, Cho Hyun publicly apologized for her behavior, trying to raise her head and show her face as little as possible.

Stephen Evans, BBC correspondent in Seoul

Cho Hyun's case has come under the spotlight due to the fact that in South Korea Discussions around the so-called "chaebols" - a local form of financial and industrial groups belonging to wealthy families - do not subside.

Critics believe that members of these families receive career priority, which is contrary to the laws of business. And in their opinion, this "peanut scandal" is the clearest example of how a business should not work.

In court, Cho literally cried when she read out her address to the court, in which she apologized and expressed regret about what had happened.

However, the judge said the remorse was bogus.

But aside from the discussion about "chaebols", you can be sure that many will like how a member of the privileged stratum of society was punished for his boorish behavior.

The humiliation that Cho experienced during this time can be no less severe punishment than prison.

The court issued a verdict in the case of the “nut scandal”. The daughter of Korean Air CEO Cho Hyun-ah has been sentenced to a year in prison for an incident that occurred on board a plane in early December 2014.

December 5 at international airport named after John Kennedy New York one of the flight attendants before flying to Incheon served Cho nuts in a bag, and not on a plate, as it should be according to the instructions. At that time, the defendant held the position of vice president of the airline and flew first class. Outraged by such service, Cho demanded to remove the stewardess from the flight. The pilot-in-command who was on his way to runway, had to return to the airport building. In addition, during the scandal, Cho screamed and insulted the flight attendants, forcing them to ask for forgiveness on their knees. "This is an example of humiliation of human dignity," said the judge who delivered the verdict.

This behavior of the former vice president of Korean Air caused public outrage. When the scandal gained momentum, Cho resigned, and on December 30 she was taken into custody. Cho was charged with violating aviation security regulations and obstructing justice using his position. According to the media, her company tried to force the crew members to lie about the incident, allegedly the flight attendant left the board of her own free will.

[slon.ru, 02/12/2015, "The culprit of the "nut scandal" in the South Korean airline was sentenced to a year in prison": According to Yonhap, the prosecution noted that the culprit of the scandal tried to influence the experts of the South Korean Ministry of Transport who conducted the check incident. - Inset K.ru]

The prosecutor's office demanded that she be sentenced to three years in prison, but the court found her not guilty on the second count. Another airline executive was convicted of obstruction of justice and received an eight-month prison sentence.

["Kommersant", 02/03/2015, "Three years in prison for Korean Air's 'peanut scandal'" : During yesterday's court hearing, a senior flight attendant of Korean Air stated that Ms. Chae Hyun Ah treated him and his fellow flight attendant "like to the slaves," as she forced them to kneel before her in the first-class cabin. Jo Hyun Ah said she regretted her action, which she said was due to her dedication to work. [...]

The case of Cho Hyun-ah is perceived in South Korea as a symbol of the reigning business nepotism. The large family conglomerates, the so-called chaebols, which dominate business in South Korea, are traditionally perceived as a source of wealth for elites with a disregard for the law. Private Korean Air is part of chobola Hanjin, owned by the Cho family, however, has a special status as the country's national airline. Therefore, a blow to the company's image is perceived in Korea as a blow to the image of the state. - Inset K.ru]

Cho's lawyers insisted that her behavior was not reflected in the change in course of the plane. The judge categorically disagreed with them. “It is advisable to understand the course not only as a route in the air, but also as ground movement during the voyage,” he said. Cho herself claimed that she did not know about the beginning of the movement of the aircraft. But the judge also rejected this statement, noting that the staff informed her about this, to which she demanded to stop the plane. According to him, the defendant's actions led to a delay of 24 minutes, interfered with other airport operations and created a threat of collision with other flights.

“Even though she had the right to remove a crew member from her duties as an employee of the company, such a right should have been exercised in accordance with due process before the flight,” the judge said, noting that the return of the aircraft was beyond her powers. The court stated that the pilot's decision to return to the airport was on Cho's orders and was not his own decision. “This incident might not have happened if she did not consider employees her slaves and control her temperament,” said the chairman. “This is a serious case that put the safety of the passengers at risk.”

The judge explained that he took into account that the defendant had dependent 20-month-old twins, no other criminal record and the fact that the accident did not happen, but added that it caused serious damage to the victims.

“As far as I understand, she is repentant,” the defendant’s lawyer said, noting that he had not yet discussed with the client the possibility of appealing the verdict. She also stated her remorse in a letter sent to the court. During sentencing, the judge read her letter of apology. At that moment, Cho, dressed in a green prison uniform, lowered her head, hiding her face under her long dark hair, and began to cry. According to the Korea Times, Cho sent six letters of apology and pleas for leniency to the court. In one of them, the defendant told how she adapts to prison life, where she was given only the bare necessities at a minimum. She said she was humiliated by the generosity of other inmates who shared lotion, shampoo and other toiletries with her. The judge admitted that he doubted the sincerity of her words. “I hope she really understands that she was wrong,” he said.

Korean Air declined to comment. Earlier, the president of the airline, Cho's father, publicly apologized for his daughter's behavior. According to the media, Cho is the eldest of his three children, who also hold leadership positions in the firm.

Alexandra Koshkina

The daughter of the head of the South Korean airline Korean Air Lines Cho Hyun-aa, a former vice president of this company, received a year in prison for a scandal on board and mockery of a flight attendant. A Seoul court sentenced her for violating aviation law: she used her official position to interfere with the actions of the Korean Air crew. The prosecutor's office demanded a prison sentence of three years for Cho Hyun-ah. Prosecutors said that the perpetrator of the scandal tried to influence the officials of the South Korean Ministry of Transport, who conducted an investigation into her scandal.

On December 5, 2014, Korean Air vice president Cho Hyun-aa delayed her airline's flight from New York by 20 minutes after arguing with a flight attendant. The daughter of the chairman of the board of directors of the carrier company was outraged that the flight attendant gave her nuts not on a plate, but in a paper bag. She got the flight attendant removed from the flight and insulted her and the head steward.

Cho Hyun-ah's actions caused an extremely negative reaction in the media and social networks, according to Slon.ru. Her father Cho Yang-ho was forced to make a public apology to the passengers of the ill-fated flight, and Cho Hyun-ah herself had to leave her post as vice president of the company. To soften the judges who analyzed her actions and achieve a suspended sentence, the former top manager sent them six written apologies.

Seoul, Alexey Usov

Seoul. Other news 12.02.15

© 2015, RIA "New Region"

Cho Chung Hoon was born in 1920 and founded Hanjin Transportation with the ambition to "serve the development of the Korean nation." The result of his ambition was more than half a century of his own innovations in the field of logistics.

Mr. Cho founded Hanjin Group while doing business in Vietnam and used his international business experience to revive the national economy.

Part subsidiaries companies founded by Cho Chung Hoon include Korean Air (founded in 1969), Hanjin Shipping and Jungseok Enterprise (founded in 1977). They have created a specialized, fully functional logistics company providing services on land, sea and air.

Korean Air fulfilled his promise to serve the national interest and ushered in an era of "rebirth of the nation." As a result of his commitment to purpose, creativity in executing strategy, and his sense of duty, today Korean Air is ranked among the top 10 top airlines peace.

Mr. Cho chose the path of a leader and blazed his own path without copying others. His firm belief in displaying "patriotism in the provision of transportation services" has become the basis for the growth of Hanjin Group. Today, his focus and concentration on the industry has allowed the companies he founded to make a name for the Korean people in the global marketplace.

Mr. Cho understood that the search and development of talent is the cornerstone of the company's success, and he assigned an important role to this issue. This resulted in the founding of the Inha Institute in 1968 and the Cheosek Institute in 1979. In order to cultivate talented employees, he founded the first national industrial college - Hanjin Industrial College (currently Cheosek College), which provided the opportunity to receive higher education for those who were not able to before.

Korean Air's privatization put national interest ahead of profit and allowed network expansion international routes. Despite difficult conditions, Cho Chung-hoon contributed to the development of the economy and foreign diplomatic relations by taking on the role of people's diplomat. His achievements were recognized by Korea with a medal of honor. top level and are recognized by other countries, including France, Belgium, Mongolia, Holland and Germany.

Young Ho Cho, Chairman and CEO

Cho Chung Hoon is the Chairman, CEO and major shareholder of Hanjin Group, an international group of companies in the aviation, sea and land transportation industries. Hanjin Group includes Korean Air, Hanjin Transportation, as well as educational institutions and non-profit organizations.

Mr. Cho became Chairman and CEO of Korean Air in 1999. He previously served as president and CEO of the company. He started as a manager at Korean Air's regional headquarters in North and South America in 1974 and worked his way up to management positions.

In addition to corporate positions, Mr. Cho is Vice President of the Federation of Korean Industry and Co-Chairman of the US-Korea Business Council. He is also the co-chair of the Korea-France Senior Businessmen's Business Club and served as co-president of l'Année France-Corée 2015-2016', which coincided with the 130th anniversary celebrations of diplomatic relations between Korea and France. He participates in the work of the Political Strategy Committee and the Board of Governors of the International Association air transport(IATA).

Mr. Cho acted as the leader of the winning bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang, which was decided by the International Olympic Committee. He then served as President and CEO of the 2018 PyeongChang Games Organizing Committee.

After receiving a bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from Inha University (Incheon, Korea), Mr. Cho received an MBA from the University of Southern California (USC) and a PhD from Inha University. He received honorary doctorates from the Embry-Riddle Aerospace University (Florida) and the National Aviation University of Ukraine. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Inha-Heosek Foundation, which includes Inha and Hankuk Aviation Universities, and a member of the Board of Trustees of USC.

The results of Mr. Cho's many years of work have been widely recognized. He received the title "Grand Commander" of the Order of the Legion of Honor of France, the Order of the "Polar Star" of Mongolia and the Order of Civil Merit of Korea - the highest awards for civil merit of these countries.