Andrzej Jeziorski/TOKYO
Japan's second biggest airline, All Nippon Airways (ANA), is launching a low-cost carrier, deferring aircraft orders and slashing its workforce by 10% after suffering its first operating loss since 1982.
The new, unnamed, low-cost carrier will be established next year, and will focus on international operations from Osaka-Kansai airport. The airline will operate with an unspecified number of Boeing 767s leased from ANA.
ANA, meanwhile, will focus on high-revenue business routes, suspending unprofitable services. Domestic routes will be further redistributed between ANA and its subsidiary, Air Nippon (ANK), and operations at Tokyo's domestic Haneda Airport will expand as slot availability increases.
ANK's jet fleet, which includes four Airbus A320s, 18 Boeing 737-200/500s and two 767-300ERs, will be cut to boost efficiency.
The airline will move to standardise on the smaller 737 and acquire additional examples through lease or purchase, while the four leased A320s will be returned to ANA.
ANA will defer nine orders - five Boeing 777-300s and four -200s. By the end of fiscal year 2002, ANA will operate seven fewer aircraft than today, with a fleet of 126. The group will operate 157 aircraft - three fewer than at present.
By FY2002-3, the ANA Group intends to cut its 28,000 workforce by 10%, through the expansion of its early retirement scheme and restricting new employees.
Salary cuts will be implemented from the top down. It will also streamline its management structure to eradicate task duplication and speed up decision making, while the airline board will be cut from 31 to 19.
ANA also plans to reorganise the division of tasks between the airport operations and service division, and local airport offices. The company's flight control centre will be developed into a new organisation linking operations divisions and functioning as a 24h information centre.
The plan has been unveiled after a ´6.5 billion ($54.1 million) net loss for the year ended 31 March. The restructuring aims to cut interest-bearing debt by´130 billion, to ´610 billion, lease-related accrued liabilities by ´140 billion, to ´340 billion and group outstanding liabilities by ´320 billion.
The plan targets a profit to total assets ratio of more than 6%, and an operating profit to operating assets ratio of over 17%.
Source: Flight International
