'1-Hour Security Screening' Increases Visitors to Japan, but Japanese Airports Face Staffing Shortages

Reduction in Ground Staff Amid COVID-19
Japanese Government Takes Measures to Provide Support

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] As the Japanese aviation industry faces various issues such as security screening and flight departure delays due to a reduction in ground staff caused by COVID-19, the Japanese government has taken measures including workforce reinforcement and automation.

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun on the 24th, the number of airport ground staff has decreased by 10 to 20% since the COVID-19 outbreak. A survey conducted last fall by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism targeting 60 major companies responsible for ground operations revealed that the number of aircraft operation employees decreased by 10%, passenger terminal staff by 20%, and security inspectors by 20% compared to before the COVID-19 crisis. In fact, at Haneda Airport, the number of airport workers dropped by 10,000 over two years of the pandemic from about 60,000 in 2020.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This was due to workforce reductions as flights were either completely suspended or reduced during the pandemic. Even after the transition to an endemic phase, the number of ground staff that had decreased at that time has yet to recover.

As the number of visitors to Japan increases, the workforce shortage issue is becoming more prominent. The Yomiuri stated, "In the aviation industry where on-time operations are crucial, incidents of flight departure delays have increased," adding, "Above all, there are many cases where security screening wait times exceed one hour throughout the airport. This could cause disruptions in accommodating inbound tourists."

There have even been cases where new opportunities were missed due to this issue. At one international airport in Japan, a foreign airline was refused entry because there was neither the personnel nor the capability to perform ground handling.

In response, the Japanese government has decided to support increasing airport ground staff responsible for 'grand handling'?which includes check-in and aircraft guidance?and security screening personnel. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism plans to hold a meeting in February to discuss and finalize specific measures for securing talent.

Until now, the Ministry had sought countermeasures for the declining airport ground workforce caused by low birth rates, but it appears these efforts were insufficient against the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis. Previously, since 2018, the Ministry had been conducting automation projects such as assigning the operation of boarding bridges connecting gates and aircraft to robots to address labor shortages due to population decline.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.