First of all, I would like to thank Andy for publishing this article and give me the opportunity to share my experience. Many
of us start with a dream of flying. Compelled with the thought of
flying around Japan, many people would eagerly apply for Japan Airlines.
I mean, being Singapore based is a great thing because being based in
your home country, you don't suffer from so much home sickness.
Here, I will tell you the truth, the good and bad about being in JAL.
Starting
with the first three months of training. You are paid about 4000yen (
49sgd ) a day. Of which, every meal which they provide for you, they
will deduct 1000yen. Breakfast, lunch and dinner is provided, so
essentially, you earn 1000yen ( 12.25sgd) day! Even if you miss your
meals, please note that this amount is non refundable. This is also not
optional. So on average, this is how your training is going to be paid
Basic + weekdays + weekend
= 800 + (12.25x5) + (36.75x2)
= 800+ 61.25 + 73.5
= 934
That's being extremely optimistic about no money cut for I don't know what mandatory deductions. The training bus would usually pick us up at 7.30 SHARP ( in Japanese context, on time is late. Please be there 15mins early). And you will return home in the same bus around 8 if you're lucky, with smooth traffic.
After
a grueling 7.30am - 8ish pm weekdays for 3 months you finally get your
name badge and uniform. Which is a great encouragement after all that
stress about remembering exact Japanese-English phrases and in-flight
Japanese.
You also get your cabin handbag, cabin luggage and check in bag. But now, it is all secondhand. While many of us were luckier and got first hand. Somehow the company felt the need to cut costs and issue used bags. Uniforms for all crew is also on loan so it is your luck if you're getting it brand new or used.
Shoes
too, used to be issued but after a few batches, the new juniors have to
purchase their on black leather shoes which have to be fully complied
with company standards.
When you are in your flight training, OJT ( on job training) you are not paid flight hours pay.
That's
almost it for training period. Here comes real flying. While they
promise 2.5k a month, please note that is a rough gauge. Sometimes, you
do get to take home 2.5k if you're very lucky and get the better
flights.
If not, an average pay would be 2.2k- 2.3k about 80-90hours. (
about 3 long 7days pattern flights). If that month you have any leave or
Japanese lessons and can only manage 2, 7-days flights, please do not
be alarmed if you only receive 1800-2000k.
Your
basic pay as a junior is 800sgd and your per flight hour pay is
5.50sgd. You also have a 1 year 10 months bond which, if you choose to
break is 10,000sgd. Not pro-rated. Long haul allowance are
9-11 hrs $70
11-13 hrs $90
13 ++ $110
Even
deserved bonus, have to be fought for by our union head which is always
fighting a dragging battle with the office. Someone told me that they
waited more than a year for their yearly bonus. Their 2012 bonus came
in AFTER their 2013 bonus.
As
the company is very rigid. Many things that you point out is either
brushed away or dragged until you give up. This is the general culture
of a traditional Japanese company.
Many
people have pointed out that the pay is very hard as you have to spend
when you fly so its almost impossible to save and thus many people have
left. On average of people leaving is our of a batch of 16, 10 would
leave.some batches only have 4 people left after their bond has ended.
When I say spend, I mean on basic food and water.
Crew
in Japan Airlines have very low positions. You have to apologize with
your lives if anything happens as usually, whether it is your fault or
not, if you are involved in any passenger complains, you will be marked
for it. Crew baggage is also the last to come out unlike other airlines.
So after flight, be prepared to wait 30mins for you baggage.
Crew
wise, you are foreign based. So be prepared to be treated like a
foreign worker. Japanese people always takes precedence over you. You
usually have to do galley work, but unlike other airlines, in JAL,
galley work is both galley AND cabin for economy and some business class
routes. So as a galley, you have to cook, prepare the meals, clear the
rubbish, clear the galley, serve. Which the cabin duty just serves. But
it is expected of the foreign base cabin duty to help in galley work
too.
You
have to learn to stand up and protect yourself in any events where you
might get implicated as once again I mention, Japanese people takes
precedence and even your own office cannot do anything as the current
union is not strong enough.
Comparatively
to Singapore airlines, our 777-300ER has only 13 crew while they have
18. So technically, everyone has to double up your speed and energy for
flights.
We
usually operate on a minimum crew basis where the basic minimum number
of crew needed for that aircraft is what we will have. If possible they
will cut you to become a DH crew where you earn 50% of your flying hours
(as a junior, essentially 2.75sgd per hour)
A
good command in Japanese is useful. As if your command is weak, many
chiefs will be triply strict with you and sometimes refuse to talk to
you, only sending you out to serve passengers. Briefing is done is
Japanese as well.
Touching
on routes, currently, Singapore base only have New York, Paris and
Guam/KL. so each flight you do, is a minimum of 7 days. You have to fly
into Haneda or Narita both of which is in the Tokyo prefecture.
You do
not get to do any domestic flights neither do you get to do any transit
in other parts of Japan. We usually only stay at Marrod Hotel in Narita
so if your next flight home or coming in flight is in Haneda, you must
take a hour long bus to Narita airport before you catch another bus back
to your hotel.
In New York, our hotel is in Long Island which is about 45mins to Manhattan.
In Paris, we stay in Novotel Eiffel. A 10minute walk away from the Eiffle tower.
in KL, we stay at Saujana hotel.
Guam
flights are the worse as it is a turn around flight. The flight time is
3 hours up and 3 hours down. As there is no stay in Guam, you do not
get per diem. You only get 15minutes to go through and back customs.
Everyone
hates this flight as we have to take the 7am bus to the office for
briefing and only end your day back at hotel around 8pm. And as the
flight time is only 6 hours in total, you only earn 30dollars for this
whole day's work.
Unfortunately,
we are not allowed to swap flights unlike other airlines. So whatever
you're given, you have to live with it. If you have personal matters you
can only shift your personal matters around. Scheduling is done
manually by office staff so unless you're a hot favorite or have
exceptional Japanese language skills, your flights might have frequent
Guam/KL flights. Personal relations is very important as it determines
your flights.
Recently
a new policy of foreign base having to be sales n charge where you have
to do the in-flight sales have been implemented. You have targets to
hit but you do not get any commission.
As
pessimistic as it sounds, Japan Airlines is very routine work. Flying
to the same places every month, you don't have to reconfirm all the
station procedures and you always know where has what.
If you like
routine and is not in it for the money, Japan Airlines might not be a
bad choice. Just be prepared to work hard, study hard! Flygosh.com will be a good place to start for all the cabin crew tips as well as latest jobs update.
To read more of Life as a cabin crew, please click here
You might also want to check out Japan Airlines Cabin Crew Interview Process and Stages ( Singapore )
Above article
written by my PAID guest writer. If you are interested to contribute your
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As you may already be aware that I have max out my facebook 5000 friends limit therefore to continue to get updates on latest news and jobs opportunity for both pilots and cabin crew, you can LIKE the Fly Gosh Fan Page by clicking HERE