Photo/Illutration Peach Aviation Ltd. pilot Seiya Mizuno, left, poses for a photograph during a promotional event in Osaka’s Chuo Ward on July 7, where he participated as a public relations official. (Takashi Yoshida)

TAJIRI, Osaka Prefecture--Some employees at a low-cost carrier based in this town, which co-hosts Kansai International Airport, have been assigned second roles at the company outside of their main careers, allowing them to gain diverse experiences and new skills.

A pilot with Peach Aviation Ltd., for example, may double as a public relations official.

On July 7, one conspicuous male figure, clad in a pilot uniform, was seen in a movie theater in the Shinsaibashi district of central Osaka before opening hours.

The man was attending a Peach Aviation news conference for the release of a collaborative campaign with a work of cinema. When asked to pose, the man waved as he smiled and fixed his gaze on the camera.

This man was Seiya Mizuno, 34, a pilot with Peach Aviation. He said he had been at the controls on a round-trip flight between Kansai and Amami airports just the previous day.

Mizuno has been serving concurrently as a public relations official since April.

In addition to his duties of a pilot, about five days a month he engages in a variety of public relations activities, including serving as a guide at an aviation class for children and making an in-house magazine.

He said he finds it refreshing to be working in an Osaka office, away from his usual post in a cockpit.

“The experience is stimulating for me,” the pilot said.

Mizuno said he feels that he is more suited to public relations duties than he ever would have expected. He said he hopes to better convey the appeals of piloting amid a current shortage of pilots.

In 2021, Peach Aviation began assigning its pilots and flight attendants to perform other kinds of work alongside their main jobs.

The measure was taken in response to the significant drop in air travel during the coronavirus pandemic, which led to a sharp reduction in the shifts worked by pilots and flight attendants. The company decided to set aside other kinds of work for them to perform.

There was also another motive for implementing the measure.

Many airline company employees are highly specialized workers, who typically perform a single duty for years on end.

If these employees were to be assigned to other departments, they could experience different kinds of work that they would otherwise have had few opportunities to try. Company managers thought this would allow employees to draw on those fresh experiences in their main jobs, resulting in improved service.

“One of the objectives of this program is to help our employees acquire a broader vision that would prepare them for management positions,” a company representative said.

There have so far been cases of a pilot assigned to do brand planning and a flight attendant assigned to work in the personnel department.

Flight attendant Maya Yabiki applied for an in-house competition and won an assignment to do public relations, just like Mizuno is doing.

Yabiki, 27, said she had always been confident in her communication abilities but had wished to go a step further, aside from her duty of a flight attendant, to draw on her skills.

She said the various duties she has performed as a public relations official have brought her fresh perspectives on customers.

“I have also acquired in-house coordination skills, which represent a different sort of communication abilities,” Yabiki added.

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