Japan Press Weekly

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2012 April 11 - 17 TOP3 [LABOR]

JAL plans to hire new employees while cutting numerous jobs

Japan Airlines on April 9 announced its plan to hire 200 new employees as cabin attendants while having conducted massive dismissals of pilots and cabin crew.

Beginning their career as contract workers, the 200 new employees will be offered full-time positions after three-years of service in principle.

JAL’s cabin attendants’ union, the JAL Cabin Crew Union (CCU), revealed that the airline will also recruit new employees in Thailand.

In 2010 during the corporate rehabilitation procedure, 762 flight attendants accepted the company’s offer of early retirement. The number exceeded the company’s initial goal of 570 under the rehabilitation plan. However, the company at the end of the year dismissed an additional 84 flight attendants.

Between April 2011 and January 2012, another 430 cabin attendants left the airline before reaching their retirement age, and this move of voluntary retirement continues.

The CCU claimed that due to a staff shortage, cabin workers have to fly 95 hours a month, the maximum hours permissible of monthly flight and duty time, and are discouraged from taking paid holidays.

It takes two months to train new recruits as cabin attendants. On the other hand, if JAL decides to bring dismissed cabin attendants back to work, only five-days of training will qualify them to fly again.

The CCU is calling on JAL to retract its dismissal of cabin attendants without delay in order to solve the labor shortage.