Possible strike on June 17

Japan Airlines has posted a warning of possible strike on its website. Four unions including the pilots, cabin crew, and ground staff plan to strike on June 17 2009 for different durations due to dispute on the summer bonus.

The JAL Pilots Union which has 660 members plan to hold a 72-hour strike on June 17 2009.

The JAL Labor Union and JAL Japan Labor Union which have 90 and 660 members respectively plan to hold a 6-hour strike from 6 AM to 12 PM on June 17 2009.

The JAL Flight Crew Union which has 1,150 members plan to hold a 24-hour strike June 17, 2009.

As of right now, it doesn't look like the strike will affect services on June 17 and 18, but it may cause delays and cancellations on JAL domestic flights on June 19, the third day of JAL Pilots Union strike. JAL is still trying to resolve the issues and avoid the strike.

At least the three unions strike on the same day and hopefully will cause minimal service disruption. One thing I appreciate about the Japanese carriers is that whenever they have a strike, it only affect the domestic services. They try their best to avoid international flights cancellations. Hopefully JAL can resolve this with the unions like they did last time. This is definitely not a good time to have a strike when they are bleeding money every day. But definitely check JAL website for latest announcements before your flight if you are traveling on those days.

By the way, ANA is having a possible 24-hour strike on the same day. Looks like they are expecting a large number of cancellations and delays on ANA's domestic flights. Um...compare this to JAL...I don't have to say much (and of course I am biased LOL)

Source: JAL Japan website