All Nippon Airways to offer cabin crew two-day workweek due to low travel demand

Japan’s ANA, or All Nippon Airways, is planning to offer its flight attendants a two-day workweek schedule option from the beginning of Japan’s fiscal year, which will be in April 2023.

An airline source told local media in Japan that the two-day workweek option will allow flight attendants to pursue second jobs because travel demand has been low due to the pandemic.

The ANA source also told local media that the airline hopes that the move will encourage flight attendants to learn and develop new skills, so they may potentially be assigned to other departments within the company.

The two-day workweek option was initially only available to ANA employees who had to take care of children and/or the elderly. It will be available to around 8,500 of ANA’s flight attendants who reside in Japan.

ANA said, however, that the option will only be available to a limited number of flight attendants, so that airline operations will not be impacted.

ANA flight attendants typically work five-day weeks.

Based on a report by The Asahi Shimbun, ANA did not employ new university graduates for its flight attendant positions in spring in 2021 and 2022, and will not for 2023 due to the pandemic.

The airline plans to resume hiring flight attendants in the spring of 2024.