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Daughter of Korean Air chief quits after macadamia nuts row

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By Noel Young, Correspondent

December 10, 2014 | 3 min read

The daughter of Korean Air Lines Chairman Cho Yang Ho has resigned after she had an employee removed from a plane after she was served macadamia nuts without being asked.

Heather Cho: Resigned

The action by Heather Cho, 40, who was vice president for cabin service and catering at the Seoul-based airline had caused a public backlash, Bloomberg reported.

Cho ordered the head of the service crew on Flight 86 from New York to Seoul to deplane on Dec. 5 after an attendant earlier had served her macadamia nuts without asking, the carrier said Dec. 8. Cho then summoned the purser to ask a question about the airline’s policy on serving nuts. She ordered the plane back to the gate and instructed the man to leave the plane when he couldn’t answer.

Her father presided over the meeting of directors that accepted her resignation, the atrline said yesterday.

“I apologize to the customers and the public for causing social issues and to those who have been hurt by my actions,” Heather Cho said in a statement. “I will take full responsibility and resign from all my positions.”

Her actions were criticized by South Korea’s Dong-A Ilbo newspaper in an editorial saying they were an example of the “sense of privilege” felt by families running the country’s chaebols, or business conglomerates.

“Heather Cho had to resign to put out the immediate fire,” said Park Ju Gun, president of corporate watchdog CEOSCORE in Seoul. “Once this dies down, she’ll probably come back. Heather Cho will retain her role as president of Kal Hotel Network Co., which oversees the operations of the airline’s hotels, the company said.

“She may be able to scold the crew member for inappropriate service as vice president, but aviation law clearly states that it is the captain who supervises the flight crew,” Dong-A Ilbo said in its editorial.

Under the carrier’s rules, passengers must be asked first before serving.

The aircraft had already left the gate at John F. Kennedy International Airport for takeoff when the incident happened. It took no more than 2 minutes to return to the gate to deplane the crew member, according to the airline. The flight was 11 minutes late when it arrived in Seoul Dec. 6.

Korean Air apologized to passengers for the inconvenience caused and said the plane was less than 10 meters (33 feet) from the gate at JFK when the decision to return was made. The Airbus A380 had about 250 passengers and 20 cabin crew.

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