Japan Airlines unit to start hiring cabin attendants in Philippines

JALways, a low-cost international carrier of the Japan Airlines group, will start recruiting cabin attendants in Manila from Sunday, company sources said Saturday.

About 20 people will be hired to be based in the Philippine capital and in December join the Tokyo-based carrier that has been taking over from JAL an increasing number of flights mostly linking Japan and leisure destinations such as Guam.

JAL is hoping to increase the number of attendants from the Philippines to 100, the sources said.

Currently, JALways has nearly 1,100 staff hired in Thailand, where labor costs are lower than in Japan. They account for close to 70 percent of all the cabin attendants of JALways, which boasts roughly 10 percent lower operating costs per route than the parent.