Korean Air Co., Ltd. (), operating as Korean Air (Korean Air Lines before 1984), is the flag carrier of South Korea and its largest airline based on fleet size, international destinations, and international flights. The present-day Korean Air was established on March 1, 1969, after the Hanjin Group acquired government-owned Korean Air Lines, which had operated since June 1962. Korean Air is a founding member of the airline alliance SkyTeam and SkyTeam Cargo. It is one of the 10 airlines ranked 5-star airline, and the top 20 airlines in the world in terms of passengers carried and is also one of the top-ranked international cargo airlines. Korean Air's international passenger division and related subsidiary cargo division together serve 126 cities in 44 countries. Its domestic division serves 13 destinations. The airline's global headquarters is located in Seoul, South Korea. The airline had approximately 20,540 employees as of December 2014. The airline was once known as "an industry pariah, notorious for fatal crashes" due to its extremely poor safety record and is one of the world's most dangerous airlines with a a large number of incidents and accidents. The airline's reputation has become less checkered as it has focused investment on improving its safety record including by hiring consultants from Boeing and Delta Air Lines. Since 1970, 17 Korean Air aircraft have been written off in serious incidents and accidents with the loss of 750 lives. Korean culture has been cited by experts as a potential factor for the airline's struggles with safety before the 2000s when the airline hired a former high-level employee with Delta Air Lines to reform KAL safety culture. History Founding In 1962, government of the Republic of Korea acquired Korean National Airlines, which was founded in 1946, and changed its name to Korean Air Lines to become a state-owned airline. On 1 March 1969, the Hanjin Group acquired the state-owned airline and it is the beginning of Korean Air. Long-haul trans-pacific freight operations were introduced on April 26, 1971, followed by passenger services to Los Angeles International Airport on April 19, 1972. Expansion Korean Air operated international flights to destinations such as Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, and Los Angeles with Boeing 707s until the introduction of the Boeing 747 in 1973. In that year, the airline introduced Boeing 747s on its trans-Pacific routes and started a European service to Paris, France using the 707 and then