Japan Air Names Ueki President as It Plans IPO, 787 Routes
January 17, 2012, 10:13 AM ESTBy Cheng Herng Shinn and Kiyotaka Matsuda
(Updates with comment from chairman in eighth paragraph.)
Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Japan Airlines Co. named Yoshiharu Ueki president as it prepares to sell shares to the public this year and faces challenges from new low-cost carriers after emerging from bankruptcy protection last March.
Ueki, 59, a former pilot and veteran of more than three decades at the airline, replaces Masaru Onishi, 56, who becomes chairman, the carrier said today in a statement.
“I understand that the key point will be the IPO,” Ueki, who was previously in charge of setting the airline’s routes, told reporters today in Tokyo. “Even after that point, I imagine we will be faced with many challenges.”
Japan Air plans its first services between Tokyo and Boston on April 22 with the new Boeing Co. 787 it also intends to use on five existing international routes, the carrier said today in a statement. The airline has ordered 35 of the fuel-efficient plastic-composite planes as it faces new competition from two low-cost carriers backed by All Nippon Airways Co. JAL itself is also forming a budget airline with Qantas Airways Ltd.
Budget fare carriers competing with JAL will include AirAsia Japan, a venture between All Nippon and Malaysia-based AirAsia Bhd., the region’s largest budget carrier. The startup intends to begin short-haul flights from Tokyo’s Narita Airport in August and then add long-haul services next year, offering fares for as much as two-thirds less than traditional carriers.
Dreamliner Shift
All Nippon is separately backing Peach Aviation Ltd., which intends to begin flights by March from Osaka’s Kansai Airport and international routes in May.
Under the changes announced today, Japan Air Chairman Kazuo Inamori, 79, becomes chairman emeritus. He said he expects to quit the carrier next year, in line with his plan to stay for three years after being named to guide the emergence from bankruptcy.
“I will turn 80 this January and I have to think about my physical endurance,” Inamori, also chairman emeritus and founder of Kyocera Corp., told reporters today.
State-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. of Japan owns 97 percent of JAL after injecting cash to support the restructuring. The fund must sell its stake by January 2013, which will be three years after its takeover.
Services between Tokyo and Delhi, Moscow and Beijing are scheduled to shift to 787 Dreamliners, from Boeing 777 and 767 planes, starting in March, according to the statement today. Flights to Singapore from Tokyo’s Haneda and the Narita airport will switch to the Dreamliner from 767s starting in September, with Narita-Singapore flights doubling to 14 a week beginning in Oct. 28.
In the six months starting April 1, JAL will reinstate services between the Japanese cities of Fukuoka and Hanamaki, as well as between Niigata and Sapporo, and will increase frequencies on nine other routes from Haneda to meet anticipated demand.
--Editors: Dave McCombs, Frank Longid
To contact the reporter on this story: Cheng Herng Shinn in Tokyo at Hcheng52@bloomberg.net; Kiyotaka Matsuda in Tokyo at kmatsuda@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Neil Denslow at ndenslow@bloomberg.net
