On January 26, 2021, ANA said it would allow its employees to voluntarily take up to two years of unpaid leave to pursue long-term personal aspirations, such as studying, obtaining necessary qualifications, or traveling.
From April 2021, approximately 15,000 ANA staff would be eligible to take unpaid leave from five months to two years to seek personal goals that need long-term planning. Under the sabbatical leave scheme, the staff could leave the workplace without naming specific reasons, ANA told Kyodo News Agency.
While the leave would be unpaid, the airline would offer 200,000 yen ($1,930) for those who would take sabbatical leave in FY2021 for a period of one year or more. In addition, the airline would cover staff’s social contributions during their absence.
As the COVID-19 related travel restrictions continue to negatively impact the levels of passenger demand, a leave could help the airline reduce costs.
On January 26, 2021, in an interim flight schedule announcement for FY2021, ANA said that it would suspend flights to 16 international destinations that were previously planned for the summer of 2021, adding that it would “aggressively reorganize its route network to maximize revenues“.
“Due to the continued impact of COVID-19 as well as related immigration restrictions and quarantine measures, ANA will continue to review and adjust its flight schedule and increase or reduce the frequency of flights accordingly. […] However, we will continue to monitor demand trends and resume or increase flights on a monthly basis,” ANA’s statement read.
Furthermore, Japan’s largest air carrier plans to speed up the retirement of Boeing 777 wide-body aircraft.
All Nippon Airways said that with the early retirement of its Boeing 777 jets, a greater number of long-haul flights would be operated by the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. However, the carrier also stated that the major earnings for the FY 2021 would be made up of domestic operations.