Rumor: 600 job cuts in JAL maintenance unit

According to Nikkan Kogyo newspaper, Japan Airlines will slash 600 maintenance jobs, roughly equals to 10% of the maintenance work force, by end of March 2012. The cut will begin on October 1 when JAL merges its four maintenance units.

This is a bit worrying and I hope the cut won't affect JAL safety standard. Last time when they outsourced their maintenance job and cut maintenance staff, there were series of safety issues. And ultimately drove passengers away to ANA. But this time, JAL is also having a drastic cut in its routes, so this will probably reduce the amount of maintenance needed.

Source: Boomberg