Korean Air will submit its mileage integration plan with Asiana Airlines to the Fair Trade Commission on the 12th. The plan to integrate the two companies' boarding miles at a 1-to-1 ratio is likely, while the miles earned through partnerships like credit cards may be applied differently.
Korean Air and Asiana Airlines have a total membership exceeding 45 million, suggesting that the review process will take a significant amount of time due to the high public interest in the issue.
According to the industry on the 12th, Korean Air plans to submit its mileage integration plan to the Fair Trade Commission in the afternoon. This follows a commission requirement to submit a merger proposal within six months of the companies' merger date on Dec. 12 of last year.
Boarding miles are accrued based on distance between cities as per the International Air Transport Association (IATA), so both companies are likely to adopt similar criteria for the 1-to-1 integration. This method was also applied in previous global integrations involving Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, United Airlines, Continental Airlines, and Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines.
The partnership miles accumulated through credit cards may not be integrated at a 1-to-1 ratio. The accumulation criteria for card usage differ, with Korean Air offering 1 mile for every 1,500 won spent, while Asiana Airlines offers 1 mile for every 1,000 won spent.
As a result, the Fair Trade Commission is also under deep consideration. If a 1.5-to-1 ratio is finalized, Asiana Airlines members could be dissatisfied as their accumulated miles would decrease. Conversely, Korean Air members would face reverse discrimination.
As of the end of the first quarter this year, the remaining mileage deferred revenue for the two companies is 2.62 trillion won for Korean Air and 951.9 billion won for Asiana Airlines.
Given that the issue is closely related to the daily lives of the majority of the public, there is a prospect that it may take considerable time for the Fair Trade Commission to release its review results. Korean Air announced revisions to the SkyPass system last year but withdrew them due to consumer backlash and government pressure.
A Korean Air official said, "It is difficult to disclose specifics of the integration plan as the Fair Trade Commission is set to review and announce the details."