SINGAPORE – Heather Cho, daughter of Korean Air Lines Co Chairman Cho Yang Ho, resigned after her ordering an employee to leave a plane over service standards created a backlash from the public.
In this Sept 2014 photo, Cho Hyun-ah, Korean Air's vice president responsible for cabin service and the oldest child of Korean Air chairman Cho Yang-ho, answers reporters' question during a news conference in Incheon, South Korea. Korean Air Lines apologized Tuesday for inconveniencing passengers after Ms Cho ordered a crew member off a flight for serving bagged nuts in the first-class cabin. (AP photo)
Ms Cho, 40, and a vice president at the Seoul-based airline, offered her resignation to the board and the directors accepted that, the carrier said in an e-mailed statement Tuesday. The chairman presided over the meeting.
"I apologise to the customers and the public for causing social issues and to those who have been hurt by my actions," Ms Cho said in the statement. "I will take full responsibility and resign from all my positions."
Ms Cho ordered the head of the service crew on Flight 86 from New York to Seoul to deplane Dec 5 after an attendant earlier had served her macadamia nuts without asking, the carrier said on Tuesday. Ms Cho then summoned the purser to ask a question about the airline's policy on serving nuts. She ordered the plane back to the gate and instructed the man to leave the plane when he couldn't answer.
Under the carrier's rules, passengers must be asked first before serving.
A call to Korean Air's main number in Seoul seeking a comment from Ms Cho went to an automated answering service.
Ms Cho's action was criticised by South Korea's Dong-A Ilbo newspaper in an editorial on Wednesday saying the actions were an example of the "sense of privilege" felt by families running the country's chaebols, or conglomerates.
The aircraft had already left the gate at John F. Kennedy International Airport for take-off when the incident happened. It took no more than two minutes to return to the gate to deplane the crew member, according to the airline. The flight was 11 minutes late when it arrived in Seoul Dec 6.
Korean Air, which earlier apologised to passengers for the inconvenience caused, noted the plane was less than 10 metres from the gate at JFK when the decision to return was made. The Airbus A380 had about 250 passengers and 20 cabin crew.