The Japanese government, airlines and academia are trying to boost the pool of future pilots to cope with expected manpower shortages that could cut flight services.
Concern is growing as the large number of pilots now in their late 40s, who were recruited during Japan's asset-inflated bubble economy in the late 1980s and early 1990s and make up a big portion of working pilots, will be retiring around 2030.
As highly specialized pilots cannot be trained immediately, the country is trying to secure more personnel by boosting the quota of training schools and setting up a loan scheme for students eager to become pilots.
As part of such measures, ANA Holdings Inc., the parent of ALL Nippon Airways Co., offered a lesson at an elementary school in Tokyo in October with a pilot, cabin attendants and maintenance engineers introducing their professions.
The company plans to hold similar classes in all of Japan's 47 prefectures by 2020.
Japan Airlines Co., in collaboration with the University of Tokyo, has also organized a seminar for junior high and high school students in which the movements of aircraft wings are simulated by computer.
"We want (students) to develop a wide interest" in the aviation industry, an official in charge of the program said.
The airline industry, which has seen increasing demand, could face serious personnel shortages in Japan when pilots in their late 40s retire. For midsize or low-cost carriers that cannot train pilots themselves, labor shortages are particularly serious.
Airdo Co., a carrier based in Hokkaido, was forced to cancel flights and close some routes from November this year due to a lack of captains following their retirement.
About 300 people are recruited each year as potential pilots by domestic airlines but to cope with future labor shortages the number needs to be raised to 400 around 2030, experts say.
To cope with the situation, Civil Aviation College, set up in southwestern Japan's Miyazaki Prefecture by the state, plans to boost its student quota by 1.5 times to 108 in the next academic year from April, while Kogakuin University in Tokyo will establish an aviation major to train pilots.
As tuition fees at pilot training schools could exceed 20 million yen ($176,000), a student loan program offering up to 5 million yen will also begin in the next academic year for students at six private institutions. Part of the loan guarantee fees will be covered by JAL and ANA.
The government is also tapping the older generation who have worked as pilots. In 2015, Japan raised the age limit at which a pilot can continue to work after official retirement at 60, the current age set by JAL and ANA, from 64 to 67.
An official at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said, "It is vital to support the whole (industry) by taking measures in various fields."
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