thumbsup7

Acquired company managed by ex-Korean air CEO. They expect to purge out old management as early as March 2020.
Expect change in passenger services and route.
Asiana under new management expected to change routes (may incl Miami, Phoenix as new USA destination). Asiana opted out from Chicago market late last year.

planes&trains

Hope they don't change *G qualification. Just switched from UA.

sol95

It's old news that OZ is being acquired by Hyundai HDC and has been discussed in another thread, so nothing new there ( Share trading halted [Asiana financial troubles] )

As for your other claims, not sure where you're getting your info...

I doubt this, as KE CEOs have all come from the Cho family. But if you mean that senior executives at HDC were formerly at KE, there's nothing odd about that. For example, the former CEO of Virgin Australia was a senior executive at Qantas. As for the purge, again, nothing unusual there. It's common and accepted practice in Korean/Asian conglomerates (look at the recent changes in LG, as an example).

Again, this is stating the obvious, apart from identifying Miami or Phoenix as new destinations. If OZ couldn't make an ICN-ORD route financially viable, even with the significant Korean population in Chicago, I highly doubt Miami or Phoenix will work!

nuff

Agreed. Too late to enter new US route without joining UA NH Joint Venture.
KE BOS route seems to be nail in the coffin of profitable east coast market.
OZ better rely on Europe.

thumbsup7

KE did not simply added BOS. They removed HOU and consequently gave up on all South American Continental Route including one en-route to GRU that existed more than 20 years.
There are enough passenger traffic from Far East to Florida as host of Key West and Orlando attractions. Connecting other carriers heading South American popular destination will add enough sales.

thumbsup7

Thread simply mentioning fact and lack details on how acquisition will pan out.

There are already one name mentioned and he was 30 years veteran manager from KE who currently retired.
I don't think it is usual having manager recruited from rival in Korean culture. They value loyalty and seniority first. Since HYUNDAI HDC is new to industry, they have no alternative.

Miami and Phoenix as hub to different destination than current market offer, they have their own values.
All of UA's hub is not working out for Asiana, for example ORD, HOU, SFO. Passenger with *G alliance are not really tied to *G once they reach hub airport of US continent. ORD is big example where alliance is not selling to passenger. Asiana need to find HUB that will not be shared with other Far Eastern carrier like KE, JL, NH, CA.

SightseeMC

I would *love* a PHX route more than anybody else on this forum; I can pretty much guarantee that.

However, I can't see why PHX would be a particularly strong candidate. There is a Korean community there, true, but I don't think it's been a strong base for South American routes. Or stronger than LAX or probably DFW. Or maybe even IAH. Also, while UA is moving to a redesigned and bigger T3 (over T2), until UA decides that PHX is worth fighting AA over Phoenix may just have to be an outstation for OZ.

If you have any sources for PHX as an option that would be interesting.

1353513636

Asiana does not fly to Houston last I checked, it was Korean Air that flew to Houston and pulled out; perhaps OZ could make it work by getting traffic connecting to Central/South American destinations, as Korea-Central/South America in 1-stop is not possible with current UA/NH JV, they will perhaps be open to codeshare with OZ on IAH routes. As far as I'm aware OZ does just fine on its SFO route, only problems are due to the 2013 crash. ORD is a tough market for Asian carriers in general, look at CX and BR who are also struggling. It made more sense for OZ to cancel ORD than continue flying it with subpar seats when their competition was already struggling.

In terms of new routes, I could see OZ giving KE a run for its money on the IAD route, since IAD has a large Korean population and IAD is a UA hub, perhaps we'll see them return to ORD when they get more A350s, IAH seems likely. I could also see them starting SJC if they have enough aircraft because reportedly SJC is ready and willing to subsidize long-haul service to Seoul. MIA and PHX might also be willing to subsidize as I've heard they are vying for Asian service.

thumbsup7

Phoenix was seriously considered by JL but they ended up not picking up PHX.

OZ also flying their freight only flights to following airports;
IAD
MIA
ATL
in addition to all passenger flights locations.

princesakura

Slightly off topic relative to current direction of thread, but shouldn't we be bracing for a revamp of Asiana Club to something more akin to the upcoming Skypass program?

1353513636

Unfortunately, unless KE backtracks, yes, however this isn't AA...they have bigger fish to fry so it might not come immediately, and OZ usually gives a huge amount of notice.

downinit

"Usuallly" implies the same management, which may well no longer be the case??? Can't really rely on past performance after such a major shake-up, but the one guarantee in the airline industry (and most others) is that all changes are for the benefit of the shareholders at the expense and to the detriment of the flyers (customers). It was a good run while it lasted, but I doubt OZ will survive in any recognizable form after the next big recession/depression hits. PRK is just too small to support two major airlines, especially now that it has launched a PR war with its closest (in more ways than one) neighbor over restitution payments to a couple survivors over something that happened 75+ years ago. The slump in demand from the current outbreak in China may alone be enough to push OZ over the edge. First they turned their back on Japan, and now they effectively lose the Chinese market for at least the immediate future.

ttuna3

Call me a little skeptical of Hyundai making any operational major changes right away. OZ itself has been well run and profitable, the issue was the rest of the Kumho group using the airline's cash flow to fund some of their operations/debt. Most of the Korean and Japanese companies that I've followed tend to let working operations stay as they are for a while after they take over and then make changes later to fit the larger group culture. That doesn't mean that most of the highest level execs won't be gone quickly or a total basket case won't be seriously reworked or shut down.

Gasolin

I doubt the vision is that skeptical within Korea. Koreans disappointed by KE will turn to OZ now since Morning calm is even harder to achieve. And they travel enough internationally so that second company is not going away.

If I were OZ, I would just take my time to observe. There is indeed a chance those travelers don't go to OZ and just start using the cheapest option around, which then is not guaranteed to be OZ.

Jimgotkp

I would kill for a non-stop flight to ICN from PHX as well. One downside of moving to PHX from SEA was the loss of the non-stop flights to/from ICN for my family. If they really come this will be quite the year for the Korean community in PHX as H-Mart is scheduled to open up in Mesa later this month or next month.