LOADING
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Staff Interviews

Helping ensure air safety and comfort
in different roles.

Mai Ito

Joined NRTAS in 2002

General positions
  • Ground Handling
  • New graduate recruiting
  • Taking parental leave
blue grade

Seeing a woman marshaller in the newspaper
as a junior high school student.

When I was in junior high school, I saw a special feature about ground handling in the newspaper. The article showed a photo of a woman marshalling (guiding) a huge jet aircraft. She looked so cool that even though I had dreamed of going into another profession up to that point, this became my new dream job. Later on, at a time when very few companies were hiring women for ground handling positions, I was able to get a job at the predecessor of NRTAS, which was the only company recruiting women then.

I experienced a wide range of jobs during the first eight years after I started working at NRTAS, mainly in loading and unloading cargo and luggage for cargo and passenger aircraft as well as supervising aircraft services. One of my most memorable days was the first time I was assigned to perform marshalling. I still clearly remember the awesome feeling when the aircraft, which weighed over 300 tons, rapidly approached me. Where the aircraft is moved affects other operations, and you need to be within several centimeters of the target spot. My whole body was shaking from the weight of this responsibility. A senior colleague told me that I did a good job after I finished performing the task, which filled me with the greatest sense of satisfaction I had ever felt in my life. I got my dream job in ground handling that I had seen in the newspaper and was excited that I had the chance to do this job every day.

Delivering ANA-quality cabin cleaning
together with staff from a partner company.

I took parental leave for the birth of my first child after working in the Ground Handling Services Division for about eight years. Back then none of my coworkers had ever taken parental leave. I felt like I was falling behind and was worried about whether I could return to the same job I had before I left. After returning from parental leave, I talked with my boss about how I could best use my work experience and took a position training and educating new employees coming into the Ground Handling Services Division. My work duties were quite different and it took me a little while to adapt, but I found new purpose in teaching the fundamentals of the approach to safety that is an essential aspect of ground handling and as an instructor for in-house qualifications.

When I returned from taking parental leave for the third time, I was transferred to the section responsible for cabin cleaning. Some operations at NRTAS are performed together with partner companies, and cabin cleaning is handled by a partner company. ANA is known for having world-class quality in cabin cleaning, which requires a combination of both speed and quality.

I worked together with the partner company, whose employees I observed consistently showing resourcefulness and motivation to maintain and improve the quality of their work. I remembered their faces and names and thought of them as my teammates even though we worked for different companies. I began to feel like I wanted to work in management instead of as a specialist to support our worksites. I was offered the opportunity to switch to a general position around this time.

I want to solve problems together as a team
in a general position.

In a general position now, I work in the Outsourcing Management Section of the Contract & Customer Relations Department as the contact person for outsourcing contracts with partner companies. Through amending and renewing contracts in ways that contribute to better hiring and retention, my job mainly involves building the production framework and improving working and workplace conditions with a focus on the future of Narita Airport.  One of the rewarding aspects of working in my department is being able to consider and suggest solutions to the operational issues and requests that partner companies have. My previous hands-on experience helps me have a more in-depth understanding of the issues and offer specific improvement suggestions.

There is no one right way to do tasks quicker, more efficiently and more diligently, and we continue to search for new ways even today. I have previously only worked in ground handling, but now that I am in a general position, I can really see just how much staff have to work together and be creative to get a flight in the air. This is the result of teamwork that borders on miraculous. If I go back to working in operations in the future, I will make sure to impart to my junior colleagues the importance of going about their work with a well-rounded perspective.

A supportive company for employees
raising children.

NRTAS allows employees to work shorter hours with either five- or six-hour days as well as shorter work weeks. Over the three times I have taken parental leave, I have worked full time as well as shorter hours and shorter work weeks. The program is very easy to use, as it allows you to change your work pattern to accommodate your personal needs. NRTAS was in the process of creating the program when I took parental leave the first time. The company listened to my feedback and I received support from a lot of people, including being given work that I could do while pregnant. You mainly work outside in the Ground Handling Services Division and sometimes have to carry heavy things and work in high places. Once I found out I was pregnant, however, I was immediately shifted to working indoors and given other accommodations as much as possible. When one of my children came down with a fever, someone would generously take over my duties. Men also take time off to care for sick family members, and we have a team structure that enables this kind of support. Not many women were working in the division when I joined it, but this prompted the few of us there were to bond even more, and senior colleagues reached out to me to proactively deepen our ties. We had women-only meetups in the Ground Handling Services Division, and my coworkers would invite me to do things with them outside of work too. This atmosphere still exists today and is another part of what makes NRTAS a friendly place to work.

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One
Day
Schedule
A typical day’s schedule
  • 09:00

    Arrive at work
    I check my schedule for the day and my email.

  • 09:30

    Start the day’s tasks (beginning of the month)
    I review the previous month’s invoices received from partner companies.

  • 15:00

    Leave work
    I work shortened hours (6 hours) to accommodate parenting, so I finish work.

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Favorite
Places

My favorite parts of Narita

  • South Wing Departure Lobby
    You can see ANA from the big windows here. My kids love it this place too.

  • Observation Deck
    You can watch the processes from arrival to departure here.

  • In the ramp
    You can see customers waving to you from the ramp when you’re seeing off departing aircraft.

World Map
世界最高のチームをつくる。