Photo/Illutration An All Nippon Airways plane next to one for the low-cost carrier Peach Aviation, a group company of ANA Holdings Inc. (Takehiro Tomoda)

ANA Holdings Inc. on Oct. 27 announced workforce changes, a focus on low-cost flights and other measures to rebound from its expected record net loss of 510 billion yen ($4.9 billion) for fiscal 2020.

The company had not announced its earnings estimate for the current fiscal year, which ends in March, because of uncertainties about travel demand amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The figure it forecast on Oct. 27 greatly exceeds the 57.3-billion-yen net loss recorded for fiscal 2009 following the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers.

President Shinya Katanozaka said the company would seek to turn a net profit for the fiscal year ending in March 2022.

To reduce personnel expenses, about 100 employees will be transferred to around 10 outside companies by December. The figure will be expanded to about 400 by next spring. Those transferred will work as concierges or receptionists at their new companies, ANA Holdings said.

The company will mothball large planes earlier than scheduled and reduce its fleet by 33 by the end of this fiscal year. That move is expected to save the company 150 billion yen in expenses in the current fiscal year and 250 billion yen in the next fiscal year.

ANA Holdings also plans to start up a new low-cost carrier (LCC) based on its group company Air Japan Co., with medium-distance flights to other Asian countries and Australia beginning in fiscal 2022.

The new LCC will be branded differently from Peach Aviation Ltd., another low-cost carrier in the ANA group.

But ANA Holdings plans to bolster its partnership with Peach Aviation by, for example, allowing travelers to use All Nippon Airways Co. mileage points for Peach Aviation flights.

Peach Aviation planes could also handle some cargo-transport orders received by All Nippon Airways.

The LCCs would be used on a greater basis because their operating costs are lower than those for All Nippon Airways, and tourists are increasingly using budget airlines.

ANA Holdings also announced plans to reorganize its subsidiaries by next spring for measures that could generate profits even if its airplanes are not flying.

One specific proposal would use the data of its 36 million mileage members and customers who own credit cards issued by group companies for the sales of insurance policies and other services.

But such a move away from dependence on airline operations may not be an easy task. In the previous fiscal year, airline operations accounted for about 1.8 trillion yen of the 2.4 trillion yen in total sales of the group.

The cost-cutting measures include pay cuts for employees and executives. A hiring freeze will be introduced, and the payroll will be reduced through retirement.

Although domestic travel demand has recovered somewhat, demand for overseas flights has all but disappeared in the continuing novel coronavirus pandemic.

However, the plans announced by the company showed expectations of a slight increase in overseas flights scheduled for November until January.

The Haneda to San Francisco route that was originally scheduled to start in March will finally get off the ground. The Haneda to New York route that was suspended in March will also resume.

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