Incheon International Airport recorded 38.39 million international passengers in the first half of this year, securing the world's top spot. Although this is an achievement never attained since its opening in 2001, concerns outweigh expectations as the airport prepares to appoint a new president who must defend this position.
The title of "world's number one airport" is built by on-site operations where security screening, baggage handling, and transit connections are synchronized down to the second. Although it is clear what capabilities the new president needs, attention directed at the new leader is turning not toward the airport, but toward political circles.
The open recruitment for Incheon International Gong Hang-gong-sa (President) that closed on the 16th listed "expertise in the aviation industry and airports" as a qualification requirement, yet questions are being raised over whether this standard will be properly applied given the background of a specific applicant. There are concerns that political history is being prioritized over track records in the aviation and airport sectors.
So-called parachute politicians, along with figures who have consistently put their names forward in every recruitment process, have entered the candidate pool, increasing question marks surrounding operational capabilities for the airport. Neither political backing nor a history of multiple applications to open recruitments constitutes sufficient grounds to entrust the management and safety of an airport where tens of millions of people pass through.
Inside the airport, remarks are even being made that "if we cannot prevent parachuting, it would be better if a powerful figure from the ruling party came." This is self-deprecating humor suggesting that re-opening recruitment to bring in someone with more weight would be preferable.
Incheon Airport's top ranking in international passenger traffic is also influenced by the fact that transit demand has shifted from competing airports such as Dubai due to the impact of the Middle East war. As external environments change, passenger rankings can shift at any time. To maintain its advantage in competition with global hub airports such as London Heathrow International Airport (2nd place), Singapore Changi International Airport (3rd place), and Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport (4th place), it must be equipped with both the foresight to look toward the future and the practical ability to materialize that vision.
In particular, the next Incheon Gong Hang (President) faces critical decisions such as the construction of a fifth runway, the restructuring of security functions, and role adjustments with regional airports. Decisions must be made by reading both the numbers and the on-site reality, ranging from departure area congestion to airline attraction and safety investments. Above all, an airport is a special place where even a single accident can result in enormous sacrifice.
President Lee Jae-myung recently stated that he would re-examine the entire personnel appointment system. If the appointment of Incheon Gong Hang (President), an institutional investor under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, cannot shake off the parachute controversy, the reforms mentioned by the president will inevitably lose their persuasiveness.
The government must demonstrate through its selection results how it actually evaluated the expertise and managerial capabilities listed in the open recruitment. If positions are filled based on political rewards for service, the competitiveness built up by on-site employees could be rendered futile overnight. The saying that personnel appointments are everything does not come from nowhere.
in OPINION
