South Korea’s flagship carrier Korean Air will migrate all employee computers to Google’s ChromeOS starting next year, accelerating its shift toward a cloud-based IT environment to boost productivity and global competitiveness.
The move follows a successful pilot at the airline’s Seoul customer service center, where ChromeOS-based systems improved efficiency and security. The airline first embraced cloud collaboration during the pandemic, adopting Google Workspace for email, documents, spreadsheets, cloud storage, and video conferencing—tools that enabled remote work and cross-border teamwork.
At the Seoul call center, Korean Air deployed 670 Asus Chromebox mini PCs for roughly 700 employees. The devices cut boot times from up to seven minutes to near-instant startup and eliminated manual security patching through automatic updates. Using Google’s Admin Console, the IT team can now apply policies and resolve issues remotely.
The smaller form factor and multi-monitor support also helped agents handle complex inquiries more effectively. To further modernize operations, Korean Air integrated Google’s AI assistant Gemini into Workspace, allowing staff to quickly search files, draft customer responses, and translate multilingual requests. The airline also linked Amazon Connect to analyze and coach agent workflows for quality control.
One challenge remains: employees who still rely on Microsoft Office and legacy enterprise applications. To address this, Korean Air is testing Cameyo, a virtualization solution acquired by Google in 2024, to ensure seamless access to Windows-based systems within the ChromeOS environment.
“This transition is about more than replacing hardware,” said Hee-jung Choi, Senior Vice President of IT Strategy at Korean Air, in a recent column for Google Cloud. “By adopting ChromeOS and Google’s cloud tools, we are building a faster, safer, and more collaborative digital future for Korean Air.”
