Nuts! Korean Air Exec Resigns Over 'Nutroversy'

Heather Cho, right, announced her resignation Tuesday after a nutty controversy (Photo: AP)

The Nutty Avenger is hanging up her cape.

Korean Air executive Heather Cho — who went on a one-woman crusade to rid the skies of improperly served nuts — announced her resignation Tuesday. The announcement comes a day after news broke that she ordered a taxiing plane to return to the gate because she was unhappy with the way she was served a pack of nuts.

Cho is the daughter of Korean Air’s CEO. In a statement announcing her resignation, she said: “I apologize to the customers and the public for causing social issues and to those who have been hurt by my actions… I will take full responsibility and resign from all my positions.”

The nuts that toppled an executive (Photo: Thinkstock)

“Nutgate” happened last Friday as a Korean Air jet with 250 passengers on board started to taxi for a flight from New York City to Seoul. Cho, who was a passenger on the plane, reportedly was served macadamia nuts that she didn’t ask for — an apparent no-no in company policy. Cho also took exception to the fact the nuts were served in a package instead of a bowl. So she ordered the plane to return to the gate and booted off the head flight attendant.

WATCH: Korean Air Exec Resigns

The plane was only delayed by about 11 minutes, but for Cho the damage will last a lot longer. She’s the butt of nut-related puns the world over. And she’s being investigated for violating South Korean aviation laws; the Daily Mail says arrest and conviction could get her up to 10 years in prison.

Dressing down a subordinate and inconveniencing 250 customers over a bag of nuts certainly appears to be an overreaction — or, at worst, a severe case of bullying. But as difficult as it may be to do, let’s play devil’s advocate. Cho may have had a point because:

- Apparently, in-flight procedures were violated in the nut-serving process. Rules are rules, right?

- Korean Air says the head flight attendant replied with “lies and excuses” when asked about the other flight attendants’ adherence to the rules. If you’re a boss and you find out one of your leaders isn’t handling business, and responds with b.s. excuses when confronted, you’re not gonna give her a promotion, are you? Nope, you’re gonna give her walking papers.

Admit it: We want our flight attendants to be on top of their game, not struggling to remember the nut-serving rules. (Photo: Thinkstock)

- It may seem like a small thing but the “no nuts without asking” rule is, in part, to keep nuts away from people with allergies. It really is a safety issue. And if Cho is unsure of the head flight attendant’s ability to ensure flight safety, then maybe that person doesn’t need to be in charge.

Related: 12 Surprising Things a Flight Attendant Can’t Do for You (So Stop Asking)

- At least she kicked the flight attendant off while they were still on the plane. Imagine what Cho would have done if the nut infraction had occurred mid-flight? We definitely could have had a Harrison Ford “get off my plane!” moment.

So is everyone being too hard on Cho?

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No, says former flight attendant Heather Poole, author of Cruising Attitude: Tales of Crashpads, Crew Drama, and Crazy Passengers at 35,000 Feet. “I’ve worked flights that were delayed for all kinds of crazy reasons,” she tells Yahoo Travel. “Passengers fighting over who was next in line for an upgrade, passengers upset over having to sit next to a pet, families who can’t find anyone willing to switch seats so they can sit next to their kids — but nothing quite like this.”

Poole understands airline rules could be needlessly strict (“When I first started flying, when we walked through the cabin holding garbage bags, we were instructed not use the word “trash,” she says. “We were collecting ‘service items’).

Let’s hope this doesn’t start a trend: “I asked for this with NO ICE!!! Get off my plane!” (Photo: Thinkstock)

Still, Poole thinks Cho went too far. “The fact that this woman felt she had the authority to remove a crew member and delay a flight over the way a bag of nuts was presented tells you a lot about how that particular airline is run,” Poole says. “Where was the captain? In the U.S., the captain has the final word — not the boss’s daughter.

So now the boss’ daughter has resigned. And the fate of the nut-serving flight attendant is unknown right now. And once again, we’re seeing that in this age of stressful air travel, there is nothing at all too trivial or mundane to cause mid-flight drama.

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