Japan Press Weekly

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2012 May 16 - 22 [LABOR]

Global cockpit crews protest Japan Airlines’ unfair dismissals

Pilots of airline companies under the Oneworld Alliance, with which Japan Airlines is affiliated, are raising their voices urging JAL to put dismissed pilots back to work.

The Oneworld Cockpit Crew Coalition (OCCC) made up of more than 28,000 pilots held its regular convention in Paris on May 1 and adopted a statement in support of former JAL workers fighting in court to seek the withdrawal of their dismissals.

The statement protests the Tokyo District Court ruling in March against dismissed-JAL pilots’ demand for their jobs back.

The statement asserts that the court “upheld the dismissals, thus condoning discrimination based on age and personal health history. Discrimination based on age is illegal in many nations and deviates from contemporary global standards. Discrimination based on personal history of injury and sickness could trigger the unintended, adverse consequence of compelling pilots to fly when they are unfit to do so, which clearly compromises the safety Japan Air Lines’ [sic] passengers.”

The statement calls on JAL management to “take steps to restore trust with the carrier’s pilots” and settle the dispute in order to maintain sound aviation.