Apr 16 (NHK) - Major Japanese airline group ANA Holdings will have more workers take leave from work as the carrier slashes flight numbers due to the coronavirus pandemic.
ANA Holdings says it will increase the number of employees on leave to 16,000, about one-third of the workforce of its entire group. It has already had about 6,400 flight attendants take several days off a month since April 1.
The spread of the coronavirus has led the airline to suspend about 90 percent of its international flights and around 50 percent of its domestic ones.
ANA Holdings says the new measure will be applied to employees in charge of accounting and personnel affairs in its internal division, as well as workers in its group firms who serve customers at check-in counters and load luggage onto aircraft.
The company says it is taking the measure to protect jobs. It says it will provide a leave allowance.