JAL Group to Slash 6,800 Jobs, Abolish 50 Routes

Tokyo, Sept. 15 (Jiji Press)--Japan Airlines <9205> will slash
6,800 jobs from its 47,500-strong workforce by fiscal 2011 in the hope of
securing a turnaround, the company said Tuesday.

At a meeting of experts scrutinizing JAL's draft rehabilitation
plan, the struggling airline said the job cut will be achieved partly by
laying off some 1,500 employees.
By the end of March 2010, JAL will slash 2,000 jobs through an
early retirement program.
In addition, it will scrap flights on all its unprofitable routes
except those serving remote islands. Specifically, the firm will abolish 21
international and 29 domestic routes.
On capital alliance talks with U.S. industry peers Delta Air Lines
and American Airlines, JAL President Haruka Nishimatsu told reporters that
JAL needs to choose a partner by mid-October.
At the meeting, chaired by Hitotsubashi University President
Takehiko Sugiyama, JAL said it will sell more assets, including some of its
shares in JALways, an airline unit mostly serving resort routes.
The firm also said it will introduce a defined-contribution
corporate pension program as part of its pension reform plan. The central
item of the plan is a cut in benefits.
To implement such drastic rehabilitation measures, the firm will
need additional capital of hundreds of billions of yen, officials said at
the meeting.
The experts broadly agreed that JAL's draft rehabilitation plan is
in the right direction. However, some called for more drastic steps, while
others questioned its viability.
JAL is expected to finalize its rehabilitation plan after examining
its options by the end of the month.