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To Recommend Airline Chairpersons to Lift Upper Age Limits for Job Applicants
Date : 2006.11.28 00:00:00
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National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) conducted an investigation into the imposition of age limits of 23 to 25 on applicants for female flight attendants by Korean Air, Asiana Airlines. On November 13, the NHRCK decided to recommend to the chairpersons of the two airliners that their employment practices be changed. It determined that the age limit was tantamount to age-based violation of the right to equality in employment.
Since last September, the NHRCK has recommended to the Civil Service Commission and Supreme Court, based on its ex officio investigation regarding age limits for candidate government employees, that regulations on age-based discrimination in employment be revised. Korean Air and Asiana Airlines are the first private companies to which the NHRCK will issue recommendations on employment discrimination concerning age.
According to the findings of the NHRCK, the age limit for candidate female attendants for domestic (international) flights as imposed by Korean Air is 23 for (would-be) college graduates and 25 for (would-be) university graduates. The age limit applied by Asiana Airlines is 24 for (would-be) college graduates for domestic flights and 24 for (would-be) university graduates for international flights.
Korean Air and Asiana Airlines contended that the age limit was necessary to prevent any problems associated with the employment schedule and human resources supply/demand planning given the tremendous popularity of the job and to establish a strict and sound command system for stable and effective in-flight service. Furthermore, employment of older applicants would undermine the efficiency of human resources management owing to the short terms of service provided by flight attendants in general.
Based on its findings, the NHRCK determined that women aged 26 or over were not unable to function efficiently as female flight attendants with necessary ability and knowledge and that it would be difficult to assess such characteristics for each individual under the existing employment test system. The age of 26 cannot serve as an absolute yardstick to determine the ability and qualifications of female flight attendants. Besides, the limit was actually found to be much lower than that applied by foreign airliners in operation in Korea. In addition, it was found that there were no age limits on candidate female flight attendants in many countries including the U.S. and U.K..
Considering the difficulty of existing tests and preparatory steps to become flight attendants, it cannot be flatly said that elimination or relaxation of the age limits will necessarily result in the hiring of older female flight attendants. Improvement of organizational dynamism and efficiency is not merely an issue of age, but an issue that must be approached from the perspective of organizational management, including innovation and reform.
The NHRCK determined that the upper age limit of 23 through 25 imposed by Korean Air and Asiana Airlines in hiring female attendants needed to be lifted because it constituted irrational age-based discrimination, which is hardly deemed justifiable or reasonable.
