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Airport operators in Japan want to open kindergartens at their facilities in an attempt to keep airline and airport employees from leaving their jobs after having children.

Ground and cabin crews as well as airport terminal officials usually work irregularly, which also depends on weather conditions. Because of this, many find it difficult to fulfill job requirements while trying to start a family.

But airport nurseries could help employees juggle work and family responsibilities. Such efforts by airport operators to retain staff are important as visitor numbers in Japan are expected to increase ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic games.

Since 2016, Central Japan international airport, Kansai international airport, and Kagoshima airport have been open to day care facilities.

Narita international airport was the first to establish such a facility in 2004. The operator of Haneda airport started work on my second day of the garden in April.

The availability of childcare options remains a major problem in the country. Many new mothers would like to keep working but are frustrated by the lack of baby quilts. The government is stepping up efforts to reduce the number of children on waiting lists in kindergartens.

“I would not have been able to continue without the kindergarten at the airport,” Akiko Higurashi said.

A 49-year-old All Nippon Airways flight attendant has a 5-year-old boy. She returned to work after maternity leave and currently serves on an international flight twice a month.

She recalled one time she took her son to kindergarten at Haneda airport around 5 a.m. when she was asked to take on an unscheduled service due to heavy snowfall.

When the first center opened at Haneda airport a decade ago, many parents saw It as a temporary solution until their children were accepted into local kindergartens. But they soon realized how the location and long opening hours, from 7am to 11pm, were a rare convenience. The demand for child care in airports increased dramatically, and in many of these institutions currently exist in the queue.

About 1,800 people work at Kagoshima airport. The operator opened a kindergarten in April after a growing number of employees quit their jobs after having children.

Yoko Watanabe, a 29-year-old Japan Air Commuter flight attendant, has two children and her husband is a pilot. Japan Air Commuter is a regional carrier of the Japan Airlines group based in Kagoshima.

She wasn’t sure if she would be able to return to work after the birth of her second child. She lives away from her parents and husband. When she heard about the kindergarten at the airport, she saw it as an intermediate step before looking for openings at the local kindergarten. After a while, she decided to go back to work.

Watanabe sometimes has to leave his home as early as 6am and fly up to six flights a day.

Despite her hectic work schedule, she manages by coordinating family responsibilities with her husband. She said someone who leaves home later and finishes work earlier will always be the one to take the kids to the center and pick them up at the end of the day.

“I want them to see me at work,” Watanabe said. “My 4-year-old daughter told me, “I want to be a flight attendant.”

Japan times LTD. All rights reserved.