JAL suspends pilot training to cut expenses; asks 16,000 staff to take unpaid leave

Sunday 25th January, 06:39 AM JST

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crikeyitsacrock at 12:45 PM JST - 25th January

Jeez, talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. Japanese sure do think fifferently than most other nationalities.
GG2141 at 01:17 PM JST - 25th January

I wonder just how far form the office those 16,000 staff will be allowed to go during their 2 month refresher??? Probably end up being one of those situations where they will have to check in every 3 days to ensure they have a job after 2 months.

aka: Working for free.
medievaltimes at 01:35 PM JST - 25th January

funny how unpaid leave refreshes while paid leave causes trouble & is considered selfish

100% Correct.
kamakuradude at 01:37 PM JST - 25th January

You would think that with the fuel surcharge still in place (40,000 yen roundtrip to Canada) and the high yen that they would be turning a profit. Cut the free meals and drinks (besides bottled water), offer competitive fares, and look for other fringe expenses to cut back on without cutting back on safety. I'm flying AC in March. 40,000 yen less (althogh they still get you on the fuel surcharge...40,000 yen = $560 CDN $).
Mayuki at 01:53 PM JST - 25th January

"funny how unpaid leave refreshes while paid leave causes trouble & is considered selfish..........."

Amen!

"gee i would love to get on a JAL plane with an untrained pilot. wouldn`t you?"

And Amen!
nutsagain at 03:20 PM JST - 25th January

JAL has been a bit of a sinking dinosaur for some time. The sooner it goes belly up and the pieces reassembled the better, frankly. No foreign pilots can get tenure with them nor ANA nor any other J airline (I'm told). They do have foreign pilots on limited contracts and most of these people are marking time until they can get regular positions elsewhere. Not a good, nor kind employer at all.
smithinjapan at 04:46 PM JST - 25th January

Awesome post, GW!

One more thing... Japan is a bit moronic when it comes to the line of thinking that accompanies 'profitability'. Take movie theaters: They charge 1800 for regular adults on pretty much any given day, and they wonder why some rooms are empty half the time. No one wants to go see a mediocre movie for upwards of $20 (or more than $20 with the Yen the way it is). If, however, the movie were only $10 at all times, it would be packed instead of empty, despite being great or not, and they would in the not-so-long wrong profit far more than they do with the quick grab of 1800 yen and then the equally as quick drop in sales.

This goes for flights, too. If they lowered the prices even a little, they would ensure to-capacity flights pretty much all the time (at least to international destinations, and domestic if the cut the number of flights a day -- no need for 20 departures to Osaka from Tokyo), and wouldn't have just a quarter to half the plane full of people spending 20% more than if the flight were cheaper and full.

Anyway, no JAL for me, thanks.
NuckinFutz at 05:31 PM JST - 25th January

I hope JAL collapses completely!
electric2004 at 05:45 PM JST - 25th January

On another thread there was the topic that there are not enough talented pilots for Japanese airlines. I wonder what happens, if JAL pilots take some unpaid holiday at JAL and refresh their wallets while working for other carriers. Could it be?
realist at 06:34 PM JST - 25th January

One more reason for not flying with JAL anymore, after flying with them twice last year . . .never again. The food was crap. Hearing this story about how they are treating their staff - they deserve to go bankrupt, and doing things like this absolutely stupid thing, will only hasten that day. RIP JAL
Crokk at 07:54 PM JST - 25th January

‘‘Providing only minimum levels of training is not appropriate to ensure the safety of flights,’’ Maybe they will skip to teach the landing part, '40 nostalgia?
franz75 at 12:14 AM JST - 26th January

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome on board. Does anyone know where I should insert the key to start the engines?"
Yelnats at 03:53 PM JST - 26th January

Damn cute stewardesses!
ca1ic0cat at 09:56 PM JST - 26th January

Yeah, they are cute. Let's hope they can fly the planes!

Cutting pilot training means, to me, that you don't have much of an airline left.
usaexpat at 02:02 AM JST - 27th January

I have always had good service on JAL and their safety record is very impressive. I pay extra to fly JAL as the American carriers are so dismally bad it's laughable. Northworst anyone? That said I feel bad for the employees and the company itself the world is a pretty unhappy place these days.