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▼ ANA Promotes Efforts To Recruit Quality Crew
- Category:Event
TOKYO - All Nippon Airways Co is promoting efforts to secure new cabin crew, including foreign nationals, to deal with a staff shortage stemming from increased flight services.
The Japanese airline has also taken steps to enhance the quality of its crew to improve its hospitality service ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
"By combining our accumulated knowhow and all sorts of ideas, we aim to be the No. 1 customer service provider in the global airline industry," said Hitomi Yamamoto, head of ANA's Inflight Services Center.
The move has come as the air travel market in Japan is booming amid rising demand among businesses and a boost in tourists from overseas.
The overall number of flight arrivals at airports across Japan surged 20 percent in four years from fiscal 2011, coming in at 1.19 million in fiscal 2015, according to a survey by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
In the mid-1990s following the collapse of the bubble economy, ANA and its archrival Japan Airlines Co both stopped hiring flight attendants on a full-time basis and recruited only contract workers to curtail personnel expenses.
As competition with low-cost carriers intensified, however, ANA announced in 2013 that it would halt its contract recruitment and employ full-time flight attendants for the following fiscal year, a move later followed by JAL.
For the latest fiscal year from April, ANA took on 774 full-time cabin attendants, more than twice JAL's 370, bringing the total to 7,718. The figure compares with 5,670 in fiscal 2013 when ANA hired 327.
ANA created Airline School in 2013 and has its active crew and ground staff members teach there. The airline school also holds a short-term course at 27 universities in 13 prefectures across Japan.
Risa Seike, 24, who took the course in western Japan and joined ANA in 2015, said, "It was good to study there because I was able to hear from active crew members about their inflight experiences and I was also encouraged by my classmates."
For fiscal 2017, the carrier employed 120 people from among those who finished the school program, in contrast with 30 in fiscal 2015.
ANA also organizes an in-house hospitality service contest among its cabin crew in a bid to keep them motivated.
Last year's winner among novices was Kraipit Lertsiriworaphong, a 26-year-old cabin attendant from Thailand.
"Japanese flight attendants can explore a different point of view and deepen understanding of their own culture by working with foreign colleagues," an ANA official said. "They are a good stimulus to Japanese crew."
In a bid to improve the quality of service targeting foreign passengers, the carrier has also appointed flight attendants in such countries as China, Poland and Spain as training instructors.
Among other steps, ANA is also making an effort to reduce employee turnover, allowing its employees aged 30 or older to cut their regular working days to a half at a maximum regardless of whether they have a child or not.
© KYODO
The Japanese airline has also taken steps to enhance the quality of its crew to improve its hospitality service ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
"By combining our accumulated knowhow and all sorts of ideas, we aim to be the No. 1 customer service provider in the global airline industry," said Hitomi Yamamoto, head of ANA's Inflight Services Center.
The move has come as the air travel market in Japan is booming amid rising demand among businesses and a boost in tourists from overseas.
The overall number of flight arrivals at airports across Japan surged 20 percent in four years from fiscal 2011, coming in at 1.19 million in fiscal 2015, according to a survey by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
In the mid-1990s following the collapse of the bubble economy, ANA and its archrival Japan Airlines Co both stopped hiring flight attendants on a full-time basis and recruited only contract workers to curtail personnel expenses.
As competition with low-cost carriers intensified, however, ANA announced in 2013 that it would halt its contract recruitment and employ full-time flight attendants for the following fiscal year, a move later followed by JAL.
For the latest fiscal year from April, ANA took on 774 full-time cabin attendants, more than twice JAL's 370, bringing the total to 7,718. The figure compares with 5,670 in fiscal 2013 when ANA hired 327.
ANA created Airline School in 2013 and has its active crew and ground staff members teach there. The airline school also holds a short-term course at 27 universities in 13 prefectures across Japan.
Risa Seike, 24, who took the course in western Japan and joined ANA in 2015, said, "It was good to study there because I was able to hear from active crew members about their inflight experiences and I was also encouraged by my classmates."
For fiscal 2017, the carrier employed 120 people from among those who finished the school program, in contrast with 30 in fiscal 2015.
ANA also organizes an in-house hospitality service contest among its cabin crew in a bid to keep them motivated.
Last year's winner among novices was Kraipit Lertsiriworaphong, a 26-year-old cabin attendant from Thailand.
"Japanese flight attendants can explore a different point of view and deepen understanding of their own culture by working with foreign colleagues," an ANA official said. "They are a good stimulus to Japanese crew."
In a bid to improve the quality of service targeting foreign passengers, the carrier has also appointed flight attendants in such countries as China, Poland and Spain as training instructors.
Among other steps, ANA is also making an effort to reduce employee turnover, allowing its employees aged 30 or older to cut their regular working days to a half at a maximum regardless of whether they have a child or not.
© KYODO
- June 14, 2017
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