“Supporting Vulnerable Groups

with Unused Public Air Miles”

- ACRC Recommends Mandatory Use of Public Miles for Social Good

(July 16, 2024, ACRC)

Public air miles accumulated by government officials during official travel will soon be put to better use, helping support vulnerable communities and social welfare facilities.

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC, Chairperson Ryu Chul Whan) has unveiled a new initiative titled the “Plan for the Efficient Use of Public Air Miles.” This plan recommends vital changes to the Ministry of Personnel Management and 243 local governments, urging them to channel unused public air miles into social contribution activities.

Currently, when public officials use airlines for official duties like business trips, air miles are accumulated by the individual officials according to airline policies. These miles are supposed to be used primarily for purchasing air tickets or upgrading seats for official travel, as per the “Regulations on Travel Expenses for Public Officials.”

However, criticisms have been that it is often difficult to utilize these public air miles efficiently because the amount accumulated frequently falls short of the threshold required for bonus tickets, and the accumulated miles vary widely among officials.

In response to this issue, the government has implemented various measures to increase the use of public air miles, such as allowing officials to purchase them for personal use, combining public and private air miles for official travel, and buying items with air miles for donation to welfare facilities. Despite these efforts, many public air miles expire unused, particularly when officials retire.

A recent ACRC survey found that approximately 3.5 million air miles expired unused in 2023 across 49 central administrative agencies and 243 local governments. In addition, about 3.9 million miles were left unused by officials who retired during the same period.

As a result, the ACRC has put forth a new recommendation: public institutions should regularly monitor miles close to expiration and those held by soon-to-retire officials. These miles should be used to purchase items from airline mileage malls, which can be donated to social welfare facilities or other vulnerable groups in the institution’s name.

ACRC Vice Chairperson Kim Tae-Gyu stated, “This initiative improvement aims to prevent the loss of miles accumulated with government funds and to create a structure that uses these resources to support social welfare facilities and vulnerable groups. The ACRC will continue to develop measures to enhance the publicness and effectiveness of budget use.”