2-chome, Sinagawa-ku, Tokyo, 1040, Japan; Phone 81 (6) 6857 7378; Fax 81 (6) 6857 7384; Http://wwwjal. co. jp/jex; Code JC; Year Founded 1997. JAL Express is established as a low-fare subsidiary of Japan Air Lines Company, Ltd. (2) on April 1, 1997. Outfitted with two Boeing 737-446s chartered from the parent, the new domestic line begins twice-daily roundtrips from a hub at Osaka to Miyazaki and Kagoshima beginning on July 1, 1998. A Japanese-language homepage is opened on the World Wide Web.
Service is expanded from Osaka to Nagasaki, Oita, and Kumamoto on July 1, 1999. Additional routes are taken over from JAL in 2000 and plans are announced for the January launch of flights from Nagoya to both Kagoshima and Sapporo.
During October, two more B-737-446s are transferred to the carrier on a wet-lease basis.
JALways COMPANY, LTD.: JAL Building 18F, 4-11 Higashi-Shinagawa, 2-chome, Sinagawa-ku, Tokyo, 140-8647, Japan; Phone 81 (3) 5460 6830; Fax 81 (3) 5460 6839; Http://www. jalways. co. jp; Code JO; Year Founded 1999. Chairman Jirb Sagara’s 1,046-employee Japan Air Charter Company, Ltd. is renamed on October 1, 1999. Possession of the company’s 50,000 shares remains divided between Japan Air Lines Company, Ltd. (2) (80%) Japan Asia Airways Company, Ltd. (2%), NYK (2%), The Industrial Bank of Japan (1%), the Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank (1), and private investors (14%).
The fleet of 4 Boeing 747-246Bs and 4 Douglas DC-10-40s, all leased from Japan Air Lines Company, Ltd. (2), is retained. Cockpit crews, hired on a contract basis, are based in Hawaii, while cabin attendants are hired and based in Bangkok, where JAZ operates a cabin crew training center. Some cockpit crew and senior flight attendants are seconded over from JAL as the company’s mission, under the direction of President/CEO Yukio Ohtani, is now expanded.
In addition to charter flights to such points as Bangkok, Fukuoka, Guam, Hiroshima, Kona, Nagoya, Niigata, Osaka, Saipan, Sapporo, Sendai, and Tokyo, the company begins to takes over the scheduled routes of JAL to Pacific resort locations. JAC had previously flown many of them on a wet-lease basis. The initial return services are the previous JAL flights from Tokyo (NRT) to Kona and Honolulu.
Airline employment at the beginning of 2000 stands at 1,045, including 143 cockpit crew, 844 cabin attendants, and 58 ground staff. On April 1, the carrier takes over the JAL scheduled services from Sapporo, Sendai, Niigata, and Hiroshima to Honolulu. At this point, a fifth chartered B-747-246B arrives from the parent. All of the Jumbojets are now painted in a white livery with depictions of colorful flowers and hummingbirds and wear “Reso’chu” titles.
On August 7, JAL facilitates the lease to JALways of a B-747-146 from Japan Asia Airways Company, Ltd. JAL paid-in capital as of September 30 totals ? 188.32 billion.
With the beginning of the winter schedule on October 29, the company also takes over the previous JAL daily frequencies from Tokyo (NRT) and Osaka (KIX) to Saipan and from Fukuoka to Honolulu. The redistribution of routes is part of the parent’s effort to drive down costs.
Arrangements are completed at year’s end for JAL to take over 100% shareholding on March 9. To process the arrangement, the parent’s paid-in capital will be increased by ? 226 million to ? 188.55 billion.
World History
