Takahiro Fukushima gets a pension of ¥2.7 million a year from Japan Airlines Corp., where he worked for 35 years. Two months ago, the unprofitable airline sent the former cabin attendant a letter asking his permission to cut it by more than 50 percent.
"The shock was huge," said Fukushima, 67, who joined the carrier in 1966. "In the beginning, JAL even didn't want to hold meetings to explain it."
Fukushima joined with other retirees to oppose the cuts, which need approval by two-thirds of the pensioners to be enacted. The Tokyo-based airline has already factored in a one-time gain of ¥88 billion from reducing the pensions into its annual forecast and failure to cut the payouts may more than double its loss this year.