Japan Airlines narrows H1 loss on cost cuts

Japan Airlines Co Ltd (JAL) reported on Tuesday a narrower first-half loss before interest and tax from a year ago, helped by cost cuts the carrier undertook during the pandemic, but it flagged a wider-than-expected annual loss.

The company posted a first-half loss of 151.8 billion yen ($1.34 billion). In the prior year, Japan’s second-largest airline had reported a loss of 223.9 billion yen in the six months ended Sept. 30.

JAL said on Tuesday it would report a full-year loss of 198 billion yen, larger than the consensus loss of 120 billion yen from 12 analysts polled by Refinitiv.

In August, the carrier failed to provide a full-year earnings forecast, saying uncertainty made prediction too difficult.

The airline, like the travel industry in the world’s third-largest economy, was badly hit as Japan was under a state of emergency for much of the second quarter.

JAL said its workforce would shrink by 2,500 people by the end of the business year on March 31 to 33,500 people as older workers retired and it froze new hiring to lower costs.