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By Hyunjoo Jin and Dan Catchpole
SEOUL/SEATTLE (Reuters) – Earlier than it suffered the deadliest crash in South Korea’s historical past, price range airline Jeju Air was shifting quick: racking up document passenger numbers and flying its plane greater than home rivals and plenty of of its international friends, information present.
The excessive “utilisation price” of Jeju Air’s planes – the variety of hours they fly in a day – is just not problematic in itself, specialists say, however means scheduling sufficient time for required upkeep is essential.
Authorities have prompt a hen strike contributed to the accident, however as a part of their probe into the incident aboard Boeing (NYSE:BA) 737-800, police have raided the airways’ Seoul workplace to grab paperwork associated to the operation and upkeep of the airplane.
“You are actually taking a look at all the pieces,” stated aviation security and crash investigation knowledgeable Anthony Brickhouse. “You are going to begin off with their accident historical past and security historical past. What sort of occasions have that they had prior to now, what occurred, what was finished to right the problems?”
Jeju Air instructed Reuters that it didn’t neglect upkeep procedures and that it might step up its security efforts. The Dec. 29 crash, which killed 179 individuals, was the airline’s first deadly accident since its 2005 founding and the primary for any Korean airline in additional than a decade.
The corporate’s CEO, Kim E-bae – who has been barred from travelling abroad through the investigation – instructed a information convention final week that Jeju’s upkeep is in keeping with regulatory requirements and that there have been no upkeep points with the doomed jet throughout pre-flight inspection.
He acknowledged the airline’s security measures had not been enough prior to now, however stated enhancements had been made.
The authorities haven’t stated poor upkeep contributed to the crash and the precise circumstances behind the catastrophe stay unclear.
Apart from the reported hen strike, authorities are trying into why the pilot might have rushed a second touchdown try after declaring an emergency, and why the touchdown gear was not deployed.
Investigators have recovered the cockpit and flight information recorders however haven’t launched any particulars.
The nation’s transport regulator is inspecting all 101 737-800s in South Korea – greater than a 3rd of that are operated by Jeju Air – specializing in how typically and the way properly the planes have been maintained, amongst different concerns.
Though it had recorded no violations within the final two years, it was hit with extra fines and suspensions for aviation regulation breaches than any of its home rivals in 2020-2022, simply throughout and after the COVID-19 pandemic, information present.
In accordance with transport ministry information on main airways from 2020 to August 2024, Jeju Air was hit by about 2.3 billion received ($1.57 million) in fines and the affected plane have been saved out of operation for a complete of 41 days, in keeping with Reuters calculations based mostly on the info.
The following-most penalized airline, T’approach Air, had 2.1 billion received in fines and 4 days of suspended operation throughout that interval.
Jeju Air flies its planes greater than some other main airline within the nation, information present, and likewise outpaces most international friends akin to Eire’s Ryanair and Malaysia’s AirAsia.
Jeju Air 7C2216 was flying from the Thai capital of Bangkok to Muan in southwestern South Korea at evening when it belly-landed, overshot the runway and burst into flames after hitting an embankment. The plane flew daily in 2024, in keeping with flight information reviewed by Reuters.
UTILISATION RATES
Excessive utilisation charges are prized within the business as an indicator of financial effectivity, particularly at low-cost carriers, specialists say.
Jeju Air, which ranks behind solely Korean Air and Asiana Air when it comes to passenger volumes within the nation, noticed document numbers from January to December 2024, in keeping with transport ministry information.
Its month-to-month utilisation hours for passenger jets almost doubled to 412 in 2023 from 2022, greater than Korean Air at 332 hours and Asiana Airways at 304 hours, in keeping with inventory trade filings.
T’approach averaged 366 hours per 30 days in passenger and cargo jets mixed, Jin Air (KS:272450) averaged 349 hours, and Air Busan 319 hours, in keeping with their filings.
In 2024, Jeju Air flew its airplanes extra every day – 11.6 hours – than virtually some other airline providing low-cost tickets and flying solely narrowbody plane, in keeping with information from aviation analytics firm Cirium, which calculates utilisation charges otherwise from the earnings filings.
Solely Saudi Arabia’s Air Arabia flew its planes extra – 12.5 hours a day. Vietnam’s VietJet flew its planes 10 hours a day. Ryanair’s common use was 9.3 hours, whereas Malaysia’s AirAsia was 9 hours. China’s Spring Airways flew 8 hours a day.
“The utilisation itself is just not an issue,” stated Sim Jai-dong, a professor of plane upkeep at Sehan College in South Korea. “However there may very well be greater fatigue for pilots, crew members and mechanics given the upper utilisation charges.”
($1 = 1,453.9500 received)
