http://www.forbes.com/work/feeds/ap/2004/11/17/ap1660304.html

Associated Press
Japan Airlines Pilots Plan to Strike
11.17.2004, 07:11 AM

Japan Airlines officials were in talks with union negotiators Wednesday to avert a one-day strike that would force the carrier to cancel a quarter of its domestic flights and affect 18,000 passengers, a company spokesman said.

Unions representing about 2,700 pilots and flight attendants told Tokyo-based JAL that they would strike Thursday unless management meets their demands for higher winter bonuses, said company spokesman Kenichi Ando.

The one-day walkout would force JAL to cancel 155 of the 632 domestic flights scheduled for Thursday, affecting about 18,000 passengers, he said.

International flights would not be disrupted because pilots in management posts and crew members from other unions would staff them, Ando added.

Union members have demanded a benchmark year-end bonus of 697,000 yen (US$6,638; euro5,117) for the average 27-year-old worker, Ando said.

Last week, JAL management offered to pay 510,000 yen (US $4,857; euro3,744.51) - 27 percent less, he said.

Japan Airlines Corp., a holding company, was set up in 2002 after merging JAL and Japan Air System Co.

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