SEOUL — In the early 1970s, executives of Korean Air knocked on the hotel room doors of U.S. importers who traveled here to buy wigs. They urged the Americans to use the fledgling carrier to ship the products to the States.
Three decades later, the airline has grown to become the world's largest international air cargo carrier.
Korean Air executives are knocking on the doors of U.S. business again these days, but this time to get Americans to fly on the airline, which has attracted mostly Koreans as passengers.
"We would like more Americans to try us," said Lee Jong Hee, president of Korean Air. "We think they'll enjoy the experience."
Korean Air is the busiest Asian carrier operating at Los Angeles International Airport. Its six to eight flights a day carry mostly native Koreans or passengers of Korean heritage on Boeing 747s and 777s. Southern California is home to the largest concentration of Koreans outside the country.
In an attempt to shed its image as an "ethnic" airline and attract more of the lucrative international business travel market, Korean Air is spending $9 billion over 10 years to buy new planes, add routes and spruce up aircraft cabins.
It even brought in a former designer for Christian Dior to come up with new uniforms for its flight attendants.
In December, Korean Air inked a $5.6-billion deal to buy 25 large jetliners from Boeing Co. It earlier placed an order for five 555-passenger Airbus A380s, the world's biggest passenger jet, which the airline will begin flying in 2010.
The carrier has upgraded about 70% of its transpacific fleet with new seats. The first-class seats can be converted into beds.
Like other carriers, Korean Air is working to entice more "front of the plane" passengers who typically take up 20% of the cabin but generate 80% of the profit.
"Korean Air has made huge strides in what they are offering in business and first class," said Christopher McGinnis, director of airline research firm Travel Skills Group and editor of an Internet newsletter for business travelers. "It's really pulled out all the stops to make itself into a more luxurious airline."
Hoping to recast its brand image, the airline hired a U.S. marketing firm that helped transform overnight delivery service Federal Express into simply FedEx. Korean Air adopted a new slogan, "Excellence in Flight." And last fall it began its first U.S. advertising campaign in 10 years.
