[November 05, 2013] As we have seen repeated here, senior executive leadership exhibits itself and its successes in several ways. Today, I will use Korean Airlines to show senior leader values (see disclaimer below).
Annually, I travel over 125,000 miles by plane. This level of use gives me an appreciation for good service and how international airline carriers compare to one another. During these travels, my interaction with airline staff, flight attendants, gate agents, and customers is frequent. So far, I have not interacted with their senior leaders.
Korean Air Vision – To be a Respected Leader in the World Airline Community
Mission: Excellence in Flight
- Operational Excellence
- Service Excellence
- Innovative Excellence
The mission of “excellence in flight” and the following three sub-missions that follow are Korean Air’s way of stating their core values. Of course, the real test is how the organization is able to adhere to their values. Korean Air is successful.
“Korean Air aims to be a leading airline recognized by people around the world for providing high quality service and excellence in flight, and become an airline that everybody wants to fly with. Korean Air will take the lead and look to continuously innovate in the aviation industry, helping to take it into a new era and become our customer’s first choice.” – Yang Ho Cho, Korean Air CEO1
If you have had the chance to fly on Korean Air as I have nad you regularly fly inside the United States, the first thing you will notice is the superior level of customer service on Korean Air. The flight attendants are very conscientious and helpful, the aircraft clean and kept that way, and even the check-in at the gate is a better experience than you will find elsewhere. It is obvious that the airline has educated, well trained staff who consistently give superior service.
Korean Air is successful living up to their vision and mission. They simply execute better than most companies.
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[1] Korean Air leadership have shared their philosophy on their website at http://www.koreanair.com.
Disclaimer: This is not a paid advertisement for and I have no financial interests in Korean Air. I am a Platinum level Delta SkyMiles member (several airlines including Korean Air also being affiliated with the SkyTeam Alliance) and I have flown on many other airlines.