Bankrupt Japan Airlines Corp. may face a shortage of pilots qualified to fly its long-range jumbo jets after a greater number than expected took the carrier up on its early retirement package, according to media report Thursday.
Japan's largest carrier, cutting jobs as part of plans to turn around its failing business, is offering the package to employees apparently without limiting the number of pilots qualified to fly large long-range jetliners. Pilots flying smaller aircraft would need further qualification to handle jumbo jets, but this would entail significant expenses that carriers routinely try to avoid. It was not clear how many pilots took up JAL's early retirement offer.