By Hyunjoo Jin and Dan Catchpole
SEOUL/SEATTLE (Reuters) – Before the deadliest crash in South Korean history, budget airline Jeju Air was moving fast, picking up record numbers of passengers and flying more of its planes than its domestic rivals and many of its global peers, data shows.
The high “utilization rate” of Jeju Air’s aircraft (the number of hours flown per day) is not a problem in itself, experts say, but means that scheduling enough time for necessary maintenance is critical.
Authorities speculated that a bird strike contributed to the crash, but as part of an investigation into the incident on board the Boeing (NYSE:) 737-800, police raided the airline’s Seoul office to seize documents related to the operation and maintenance of the plane. .
“You literally look at everything,” said aviation safety and crash investigation expert Anthony Brickhouse. “You start with their accident history and safety history. What events have happened to them in the past, what happened, what was done to correct the problems?”
Jeju Air told Reuters it did not neglect maintenance procedures and would strengthen safety measures. The Dec. 29 crash, which killed 179 people, was the airline’s first fatal crash since its founding in 2005 and the first for any Korean airline in more than a decade.
The company’s CEO Kim Ae-bae, who was banned from traveling abroad during the investigation, said at a news conference last week that Jeju’s maintenance met regulatory standards and that there were no maintenance problems with the doomed plane during pre-flight preparations. inspection.
He acknowledged that the airline’s security measures had been inadequate in the past, but noted that improvements had been made.
Authorities have not said that poor maintenance contributed to the disaster, and the exact circumstances of the crash remain unclear.
In addition to the bird strike report, authorities are looking into why the pilot may have rushed his second landing attempt after declaring an emergency and why the landing gear was not extended.
Investigators found the cockpit and flight data recorders but did not release any details.
The country’s transport regulator is inspecting all 101 of South Korea’s 737-800 aircraft, more than a third of which are operated by Jeju Air, focusing on, among other things, how often and how well the planes were maintained.
Although there were no violations recorded in the last two years, more fines and suspensions were issued for violations in 2020-2022, records show, just during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. aviation legislation than any of its domestic competitors.
According to Ministry of Transport data on major airlines from 2020 to August 2024, Jeju Air was fined about 2.3 billion won (US$1.57 million) and the affected planes were grounded for a total of 41 days, according to Reuters calculations. based on according to data.
The next-heaviest airline, T’way Air, received 2.1 billion won in fines and four days of flight suspension during the period.
Data shows that Jeju Air operates its aircraft more than any other major airline in the country and is also ahead of most global rivals such as Ireland’s Ryanair and Malaysia’s AirAsia.
Jeju Air 7C2216 was flying from the Thai capital Bangkok to Muan in southwestern South Korea overnight when it landed on its belly, overshot the runway and burst into flames after hitting an embankment. The planes were flying every day in 2024, according to flight data reviewed by Reuters.
STANDARDS OF USE
High load factors are valued by the industry as a measure of cost efficiency, especially among low-cost carriers, experts say.
Jeju Air, which is second only to Korean Air and Asiana Air in terms of passenger traffic in the country, achieved record numbers from January to December 2024, according to the transport ministry.
Monthly passenger aircraft usage hours nearly doubled to 412 in 2023 from 2022, higher than Korean Air (332 hours) and Asiana Airlines (304 hours), according to stock exchange data.
T’way logged an average of 366 hours per month on passenger and cargo aircraft combined. Gene Air According to their documents, (KS:) averaged 349 hours of service, while Air Busan averaged 319 hours.
According to aviation analytics company Cirium, which calculates utilization rates differently than in earnings reports, Jeju Air flew more of its aircraft in 2024—11.6 hours—than almost every other low-fare airline that flies only on narrow-body aircraft.
Only Saudi Air Arabia flew more on its planes – 12.5 hours a day. The Vietnamese company VietJet flew its planes 10 hours a day. Ryanair’s average usage time was 9.3 hours, while Malaysia’s AirAsia had an average usage time of 9 hours. The Chinese airline Spring Airlines flew 8 hours a day.
“Disposal itself is not a problem,” said Shim Jai-dong, a professor of aircraft maintenance at Sehan University in South Korea. “But pilots, crew and mechanics may experience higher fatigue given higher utilization rates.”
($1 = 1,453.9500 won)