Just one day after a Jeju Air plane crash at Muan International Airport, another aircraft of the same model had to return to its departure point on Dec. 30 due to a landing gear issue. The malfunctioning landing gear was identified as the cause of the previous day’s incident. Some passengers refused to board the replacement flight. Jeju Air, South Korea’s leading low-cost carrier, is facing growing concerns among passengers about its maintenance and safety practices.
Flight 7C101, which departed Gimpo International Airport for Jeju at 6:37 a.m. on Dec. 30, experienced a landing gear issue. According to a Jeju Air official, a warning appeared on the pilot’s monitor around 6:57 a.m. Although the issue was resolved after the pilot communicated with ground control, the captain decided to return to Gimpo Airport for safety checks. The landing gear functioned properly during landing. Jeju Air arranged an alternative flight, but 21 passengers declined to re-board due to safety concerns. The aircraft was a Boeing 737-800, the same model involved in the previous day’s crash. Jeju Air operates 39 out of its 41 planes with this model, including 37 passenger planes and two cargo planes.
From Dec. 29 to 1 p.m. on Dec. 30, about 68,000 Jeju Air reservations were canceled, including 34,000 for international flights affected by the incident and 33,000 for domestic flights.
The recent incident has sparked controversy over Jeju Air’s tight flight schedules. The aircraft involved in the accident had completed 13 flights within 48 hours since Dec. 27, leading to concerns that “engines hardly had time to cool down.”
According to Jeju Air’s quarterly report on Dec. 30, the average operating time per aircraft in the third quarter of this year (July-September) was 418 hours. This is significantly higher than major carriers like Korean Air (355 hours) and Asiana Airlines (335 hours), as well as other budget carriers such as T’way Air (386 hours), Jin Air (371 hours), and Air Busan (340 hours). Experts note that proper maintenance is more crucial for aircraft safety than the aircraft’s age, warning that frequent takeoffs and landings on short- and medium-haul routes increase aircraft fatigue, and brief airport layovers of just over an hour may lead to insufficient maintenance.
Jeju Air’s Song Kyung-hoon, head of the management support division, explained that checks conducted after arrival and before the next departure involve visually inspecting the aircraft and confirming instrument functionality. “If any issues are found, maintenance is performed,” he added. Regarding frequent operations, he acknowledged that their aircraft may have more takeoffs and landings compared to long-haul carriers, and said the relationship to aircraft fatigue “needs to be examined.”
It was also revealed that Jeju Air has received the most administrative penalties among South Korean airlines for violating aviation safety laws. According to data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport provided to Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Yeon-hee, Jeju Air received the highest number of administrative sanctions, including fines and flight suspensions, among domestic carriers from 2020 to August 2024.
