Korean Air celebrates 50 years of serving the Americas

Approximately 11,000 direct and indirect jobs have been created in related businesses in the 13 cities served by the airline, adding about US$110 million per year in added value through labour market and consumption says the airline.

The airline says is estimated to have created 100,000 jobs, and to have generated an economic effect of USD 17 billion over the past half-century.

Since the launch of its first U.S. route, Korean Air has grown into a major global airline serving 120 cities in 43 countries.

The airline not only co-founded the SkyTeam Alliance together with Delta Air Lines, Aeroméxico and Air France in 2000 but also launched a transpacific joint venture with Delta Air Lines in 2018, connecting customers to more than 290 cities in the US and 80 points in Asia. Its transpacific joint venture is considered the industry’s most comprehensive.

Korean Air continued to serve the U.S. throughout the pandemic, and the airline delivered thousands of tons of cargo such as e-commerce products, semiconductor parts, medical supplies and COVID test kits, fruits and vegetables, and K-pop-related items.

The airline also launched two new gateways in the U.S. – Rickenbacker International Airport (Columbus, Ohio) and Chicago Rockford International Airport (Rockford, Illinois) – that have strengthened the airline’s cargo transpacific network and helped alleviate some of the U.S. supply chain issues.