Some 140 former Japan Airlines pilots and cabin attendants are planning to file a lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court on January 19. They were dismissed as part of the restructuring efforts of the bankrupt airline but are now seeking nullification of the decision and will question the necessity of the dismissals and the reasonableness of the criteria by which JAL chose the plaintiffs.
JAL had attempted to reduce its workforce with voluntary redundancies but fell short of its allotted target forcing it to make dismissals. However the group filing the suit consist of 81 pilots and 84 cabin attendants, including some who took extended sick leave, captains aged 55 or over, deputy captains aged 48 or over, and cabin attendants aged 53 or over.
The unions claim the airline has not made enough effort to avoid dismissal such as by introducing work-sharing arrangements and lowering the criteria age below which employees would be allowed to apply for the retirement program.