Korean Air Doesn’t Have Enough Aircraft

Korean Air is currently undergoing one of its most ambitious growth periods in company history, but a lack of aircraft and engines remains a present challenge.

The airline’s CEO and Chairman, Walter Cho, spoke exclusively with CNBC, discussing the state of the South Korean airline and providing further information on the industry’s current state and its business operations.

As Korean Air prepares for the integration of Asiana Airlines into its business, there is a natural emphasis on introducing the next-generation of aircraft to lower costs.

New aircraft, according to Cho, were required to achieve better economics and efficiency. Before the trade wars began with the United States, it sought to leverage its trust in Boeing products to purchase significant quantities of them.

However, acquiring these new planes has been a challenge, and now Korean Air has confirmed its short by five or six airplanes and route cuts have had to be made in order to keep the schedule and supply chain issues at hand.

While new plane deliveries aren’t occurring on time, resulting in the airline being short of aircraft, the problems also extend to engines, with multiple planes already having been delivered and parked without the necessary engines to operate safely.

Korean Air Faces Tariff Wars

Walter Cho has stated that the carrier also faces uncertain times amid increasing political tensions.

Unfortunately, Korean Air is situated near both China and the United States, so it ultimately feels the effects of the tensions and threats of tariffs.

Cho says it’s trying to maintain its agility as much as possible. While the trade war seems to be a recurring theme between China and the United States, the airlines’ chief believes this time around it remains much more unpredictable.

Thanks to having no idea how things will pan out, the airline is trying to stay positive despite turbulence. Korean Air has also seen travel demand shift away from the United States, but this is more due to increased competition than a decline in demand.

U.S. traffic continues to soften as more locals head towards Japan, and the carrier doesn’t believe this trend will change in the short term, considering the developments that have taken place since the beginning of 2025.