기내식•항공유도 '셧다운'...항공 산업 줄도산 위기<br /><br />There's no question the aviation industry has been one of the hardest hit sectors by the global coronavirus pandemic.<br />With planes grounded or flying well under capacity,... there have been mass layoffs of airline staff as well as third-party contractors, such as those who make the in-flight meals and fuel the planes.<br />Kim Hyo-sun reports.<br />Korean Air's shelves for in-flight meals are almost bare.<br />Demand for meals has plummeted as some 90 percent of international commercial flights have been cancelled due to the global coronavirus pandemic.<br />Fewer than 3-thousand in-flight meals were made daily last month,... a significant drop from the 80-thousand prepared each day during the same month last year.<br />This has led to nearly 1-thousand employees at this subcontractor being made redundant.<br />Only around 800 workers remain.<br />"I joined this company 30 years ago, but this is unprecedented. I could've never imagined this. We've gone through the Asian financial crisis, SARS and the global financial crisis, but this is something else."<br />The outbreak has also inflicted significant financial losses on the aviation fueling industry.<br />The Incheon International Airport Corporation entrusted the airport's fueling facility to a private carrier,... which is now experiencing a plunge in demand for aviation fuel.<br />The company needs to pay 2-point-4 million U.S. dollars for monthly rent,... but its sales in March were just over 800-thousand dollars.<br />While the government said it will lower rent by 20 percent,... the company says it's not enough.<br />"The demand for aviation fuel plummeted following the shutdown of many flights, but we are increasingly burdened as our inventory piles up. Our sales have dropped by over 70 percent."<br />The unanticipated and unprecedented effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has sent the aviation industry into a tailspin,... and the ripple effects are equally painful for the third-party contractors that work hand-in-hand with the airlines.<br />Kim Hyo-sun, Arirang News.<br />
