Listening Day 12

1. JapanAirlinesIsFlyingHighAgain.mp3

Now Japan Airlines is flying high again just a few years after it went broke and it’s marking its official comeback in the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Alex Zolert takes a look at (the company) how the company made a complete turnaround. A Japanese icon back from the brink of collapse. The relisting of Japan Airlines marks the world’s second biggest IPO this year after Facebook. And what’s it taken to get there? There are the steps one might expect. The carrier has eliminated roughly a third of its routes. Employees have agreed to pension cuts of 30 to 50 percent and the airline has slashed a staggering 40 percent of its workforce in a country where lifetime employment was once all but guaranteed.

Then, there is this the small cost savings as well. We had rare access to the company’s maintenance facilities at Haneda Airport.

“Yeah, what’s inside here?”

 Hiroaki Takahashi shows me how the company is rethinking what can be recycled with employees bringing in old clothes that can be used as rags.

And that’s not the only step. It’s cost savings taken to an extreme.

For instance, each of these bins has a label. Twenty yen or about 25 U.S. cents for one of these new paintbrushes. And over here, more labels, about 4 yen for one of these new plastic bags. That’s about a nickel, a way to remind employees that every yen or cent counts. It's not just penny-pinching. It’s a way of thinking. Employees from pilots to maintenance workers to customer service reps are encouraged to attend a philosophy course.

Ichiro Yomiya tells me, “Today we talked about safety and company values.

It was a good discussion.“

Small steps leading to one of the biggest corporate turnarounds in Japanese history. Alex Zolbert, CNN, Tokyo.

New Words

go broke / go bankrupt 파산으로 가다

broke 파산하다

turnaround 전환점

make a turnaround 전환점으로 만들다

brink ~하기 직전

IPO - initial public offering

carrier 항공사

eliminate

roughly 대략적으로

pension 연금, 수당

slash 긋다. 대폭줄이다

stagger 비틀거리다

staggering 깜짝 놀라게 하다

workforce 직원, 노동자

lifetime employment 종신 고용

rag 누더기 천

label[leibl] 이름표

plastic bag 비닐 봉지

nickel 오센트 동전

count 중요하다

penny-pinching 구두쇠 같은

take a look(v) - look at with attention

= Have a look - Have a look at this

= get a load - Get a load of this pretty woman!

- Let's take a look! 한번 찾아 봅시다!

- This week, let's take a look at some of the most dangerous animals

look at ~을 보다

Useful Expressions for Speaking

Now Japan Airlines is flying high again just a few years after it went broke and it's marking its official comeback in the Tokyo stock Exchange.

Alex Zolert takes a look at how the company made a complete turnaround.

A Japanese icon back from the brink of collapse

The relisting of Japan Airlines marks the world's second biggest IPO this year after Facebook.

The carrier has eliminated roughly a third of its routes.

It's cost savings taken to an extreme

It's a way of thinking