In a rare move for a Japanese airline, Japan Air System Co. announced Friday it will not hire any pilots during fiscal 1999 as part of its structural reform plan.
The carrier also plans to reduce the size of its board to enable it to make faster decisions. JAS currently has 28 board members, including six part-timers, a JAS official said.
JAS will adopt an "executive officer" system and plans to appoint up to 10 executive officers in June to help the president put board decisions into practice.
For fiscal 1998 ending March 31, JAS has revised its sales forecast from 329.6 billion yen to 332.1 billion yen. The carrier also now expects to post a 200 million yen net profit. It previously forecast a 2.8 billion yen net loss.