Notorious Korean Air ‘nut rage’ heiress makes a major comeback … to senior management
Cho Hyun-ah achieved notoriety in 2014 for an on-board tantrum after a first class flight attendant served her nuts in a bag instead of on a bowl
A Korean Air heiress known for her “nut rage” tantrum that sparked national uproar four years ago made a comeback to management on Thursday, a spokesman said.
At a shareholders meeting, Korean Air subsidiary KAL Hotel Network approved Cho Hyun-ah, 44, as its president, the spokesman said.
Cho, a daughter of Korean Air chief Cho Yang-ho and then the company’s vice-president, erupted into a tantrum when a stewardess served her macadamia nuts in a bag rather than in a bowl on a Seoul-bound flight at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport.
She and the male cabin crew chief were forced to kneel and beg for forgiveness, before Cho struck the woman with a service manual and ordered the aircraft to turn back to the gate so the man could be thrown off the plane.
The incident was one of the most infamous cases involving offspring of a controlling family of one of the country’s large businesses, whose arrogance and bad behaviour regularly make headlines.
It also triggered a spike in the sale of macadamia nuts in South Korea, which does not grow them but relies on imports.