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In Japan, idled Dreamliner pilots lose pay

28 Comments
By Yoko Kubota

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28 Comments
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I don't understand why the pilots can't be assigned to other flights

Might help to read the article.

To get back in the cockpit, pilots would need to go through re-training on other planes, said airline employees familiar with the situation - a process that could take months and create a training backlog for non-Dreamliner pilots, too.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

Sadly, the first paragraph described a good chunk of the Japanese workforce!!!

6 ( +8 / -3 )

Well it's not "salary" if it is overtime and allowances. Sounds like they are still getting their full salary for doing nothing, just not topping it up with overtime. On ¥20m per year, cry me a river.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

I can understand how annoying it must be for some pilots having to sit around at home. It must mess up their routine a lot.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

This situation is why I am glad to still be a 777 pilot.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I don't understand why the pilots can't be assigned to other flights.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

noriyosan73Mar. 04, 2013 - 10:19AM JST

Why is it the "wives" who are tired of having the pilots at home? There are no female pilots.

There are 3.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

@sakurala - read again - ANA pilots are paid 20-30% of their salary.. dependent on the hours they fly, including overtime and late night allowances.

Without planes to fly, the pilots expect their monthly pay to fall by as much as 30%.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

since pilots can only be licensed to pilot one type of plane at a time, if they start training to pilot a non dreamliner over the next month or so, once they are flight-worthy again there will be nobody to fly them. If it's only going to take a couple more months to sort out the problem then they don't really have a choice

1 ( +1 / -0 )

“With no outlook on when flights will be resumed, we are not currently considering specific measures for pilots, such as switching them to other aircraft,” said ANA spokeswoman Ayumi Kunimatsu. Yup, I think Ayumi chan of ANA is on to something! Instead of just letting their pilots get old and fat and rusty, start training them for OTHER AIRCRAFT to get them back in the air and back earning $$$$$$ ASAP!!

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Got it...I re-read it and seem to have a bad case of Monday brain. However, it is still a cut that could have large impacts on the pilots especially with all the taxes (house, property, car...) that are due in April/May.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

RedcliffMar. 04, 2013 - 09:21AM JST

@ globalwatch

Product Liability Insurance does not extend to cover pilot salary and benefits. This is an agreement between the pilots and the airlines

There is a clause they could have added. It has been a while since I have retired from the field, but there are some business insurance coverage for that. ANA legal team should examine business insurance, product liability, fire and marine, etc. I know they are covered.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Would those who don't believe the Captain of a Commercial Airliner please explain why they SHOULDN'T be earning 20,000,000 Yen (gross) a year? I do believe its more than responsibility that most of us have in our daily lives. Whats that after tax? $125,000 a year? Doesn't sound like that much to me in the big scheme of things

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I think Boeing last week gave U.S aviation regulators its plan to fix the 787’s volatile lithium-ion batteries. http://www.collegefootballwinning.com

0 ( +0 / -0 )

They come to the USA and hang out with the Air Force Thunderbird pilots who have been "idled" also. “While we will protect flying operations in Afghanistan and other contingency areas, nuclear deterrence and initial flight training, roughly two-thirds of our active-duty combat Air Force units will curtail home station training,” Air Force chief of staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III said in a statement

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Why is it the "wives" who are tired of having the pilots at home? There are no female pilots. Typical discrimination? If the CEO of Boeing and ANA will fly on the Dreamliner, it is safe.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

Where is the pilots union in all of this. They are employees of companies that pride themselves on lifetime employment. ANA management should take a pay cut first.

A red flag for the Dreamliner should have been evident to them when Singapore Airlines or possibly Cathay Pacific declined to be the launch customer for this aircraft.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Should not of gotten rid of the other aircraft. Should of put them is short time reserve and brought them back online. Now both ANA and JAL have gotten rid of their 747's BAKA! Some have been scrapped already. Once again the ideal of having a backup plan is beyond them.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

@Yuri, I think you are right on the money! If ANA and JAL were stupid enough to get rid of their "older" planes and putting all of their eggs is one basket with these so called "Dreamliners" yes, they,do sound really, really BAKA!

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

@ globalwatch

Product Liability Insurance does not extend to cover pilot salary and benefits. This is an agreement between the pilots and the airlines. Under such scenario pilots could claim from their income protection insurance if they have taken cover to protect themselves under difficult circumstances.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

All that branding with '787'; those special paint jobs on the body, posters, menus, advertising, uniforms, cute mascots, gimmicks, and now we learn extra pay....wasted. ANA did the same with the 777, another launch customer....

Maybe they should just concentrate on their product, transporting people from A to B, economically, efficiently, safely.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

ANA pilots are paid 20-30% of their salary

That's a pretty steep cut! Yes, some of these piolots were making big bucks but probably were living within their means. They may have big houses and nice cars but felt comfortable with buying such items because they felt they had job security. However, as anyone knows, if you suddenly find yourself only receiving a portion of your salary, it can be very difficult or impossible to adjust depending on the level of savings one has.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

@Elbuda: You are better than that - your comments are normally well thought out and justified. Fleet renewal is, especially to planes that are more economical fuel wise is very important to big airlines. You may complain about 'high' fares, but they would be a lot higher if both airlines had not switched out to 777-300er's from 747-400's for international routes for example. A lot of airlines do not evem own the whole of fleet, its leased. It costs a LOT of money to 'park' aircraft or keep them in reserves. Nobody has put their all their eggs in one basket with the 787 - its basically a replacement for the 767 which is ageing and also for long haul routes which do not have the demand required to fly a 777. I am not defending Boeing, but this aircratd was certified by the FAA..just as one example as airworthy. OK - again, the 787 has proved to be more problematic than the launch of other recent aircraft and, yes, SQ turned down the chance to be launch customer after their bad experience with the Airbus A380. Virgin Atlantic were at one point supposed to be the launch customer of the A380, but declined citing their bad experience with the A340-600. That was far more problematic for them as a small airline as they were effectively replacing 60% of their fleet.

The 787 will fly again, the pilots will be paid again, and in 5 years time we will all have probably flown on one and thought nothing about it. You won't have any choice if you wish to travel anywhere..especially domestically within Japan!

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

This is a BS of ANA's management again. Maybe it is something to do with their limited legal knowledge on the US commercial law. It is covered by product liability both Boeing and ANA's insurance. You never start manufacturing products and services until the manufactures are legally covered and ANA should be added as additional insured.

I would like to advise ANA to contact a legal team of Boeing on this issue and these pilots should be paid, period.. Thanks.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

30% of their salary is still high i think... twice that of typical salary men in japan.... is it the brought too much luxury liabilities in their life that the cut suddenly deprive them of the luxury? they even have a garden to soil with!.. I know their job is high risk etc etc, Im not against them if they demand 100% of their salary too. It just occured to me 90% of japanese men out there are having trouble even when having 100% of their salary given... just a thought.

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

Fly 'em, and take your chances. Is that what the pilots want? By the way, the same number of people need to go or leave Japan with or without the Dreamliner. How did United and ANA, et al provide those seats? Did they hire experienced 777, 767, and 747 pilots or are those pilots inexperienced? It used to be that a pilot started at a lower level, then moved up the ladder. It would be logical to have the Dreamliner pilots at the top.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

If they make 20 million a year, then a 30 percent pay cut should not be a problem.

-5 ( +2 / -7 )

I'm sorry. Something seems so false about this. I need proof to believe this.

-6 ( +3 / -9 )

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