Japan's once-prestigious flight attendants hit turbulence over low pay, no perks
MSN News/Mainichi Daily News
March 3, 2007

 

http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/waiwai/news/20070228p2g00m0dm029000c.html

Though once seen as a glamorous job offering a great wage and jetset lifestyle, Japanese women's long love affair with the airline hostess profession is feeling the pinch -- literally at times, according to Yomiuri Weekly (3/11).

"I guess it's still a job that women yearn to do. It must be judging by the large number of them who want to do it," career guidance counselor Miss Machimura tells Yomiuri Weekly. "What they should know is that the cabin attendant's lot in life now is a far cry from the high wage, good perks position it was in the past. It's the kind of position where you have to wonder if it's worth grinding yourself into the dirt for. The reality and the perception of the work are totally at odds."

Japan's air carriers did away with employing full-time hostesses in 1994, instead choosing to employ contracted cabin attendants. It's been a boon for the airlines, with first-year contract hostesses now flying the skies while earning an hourly wage of 700 yen, about 100 yen less than what most fast food joints pay for flipping burgers. Even with allowances for overnight stays, it's common for less experienced hostesses to take home monthly pay packets that fall short of the 200,000-yen mark.

Japan Airlines, the country's biggest carrier, has its hostesses work on a four days on, two days off rotation, with each working day made up of two return flights.

"It leaves you totally exhausted," JAL stewardess Kaeru tells Yomiuri Weekly. "Back pain is virtually an occupational hazard for cabin attendants and it's really easy to develop ear infections. We suffer from irregular periods and chronic fatigue. After working four days straight, we nearly almost always spend our two days break sleeping."

International routes are even more demanding, especially when it comes to the 10 hour-plus trips to Europe and the continental United States, each of which means little sleeps and barely a bathroom break for the stewardesses.

"JAL is still not so bad, at least on the LA leg. We manage to get two days off. I've heard that working for ANA (All Nippon Airways), you only get the single day's break," Kaeru tells the weekly. Everybody has this image of cabin attendants living it up overseas, but the reality is that we're more likely to spend our time in foreign lands snoring it off."

To make matters worse, both JAL and ANA have stopped paying taxi fares for flight attendants to get to and from airports. They now have to slug it out on regular public transport like the rest of us plebs.

Perhaps not surprisingly, women are flying from the flight attendant profession in their droves, with about 400 cabin attendants quitting both Japan's major carriers annually.

Asami Nonaka, a lawyer specializing in labor issues, is not surprised that hostesses are struggling.

"Airlines felt the globalization of the workforce faster than most industries. When international labor force dumping continues and companies begin feeling the pinch, they start thinking about cutting labor costs. Airline carriers have turned their attention to cabin attendants, as weak links, as a means of survival," Nonaka tells Yomiuri Weekly. "It's not just the airlines, though. This is a problem for all Japanese businesses. Cabin attendants just happen to be in a visible position at the moment."