Resigns Amid Close Government Scrutiny

Plagued by recent reports of safety problems in-flight and on the ground, Japan Airlines CEO Isao Kaneko, 65, abruptly resigned Monday after 45 years with the company.

Kaneko did not say why he was stepping down, but his resignation came after one of aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing because of a sudden loss of cabin pressure on May 8th. The Japanese government took the highly unusual step of warning JAL about safety concerns, even going so far as to send the country's aviation chief for a personal inspection of airline facilities in March.

Some aircraft flew with disabled emergency warning gear. Others were found to have "inappropriate" parts included in their landing gear assemblies. Still others took off or landed without clearance at airports in Japan and South Korea. No one was hurt in the incidents.

Sunday's loss of cabin pressure affected a New York to Tokyo flight with 355 passengers on board. Again, none was hurt. The aircraft made an emergency landing at Sapporo.

Last month, JAL issued a rare statement on safety concerns:

Management and staff of the JAL Group have reflected deeply on a number of safety-related incidents, followed up by a business improvement order and administrative warnings to the airline issued by the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which has responsibility for all transport in Japan and its safe operation.

We have analyzed the cause of the incidents and have formulated countermeasures to improve safety based on our findings. While the majority of the incidents were non-threatening, involving aircraft and component technical failures and reflecting day-to-day wear and tear of equipment common to all airlines, a small number involved human error, and were serious breaches of basic safety. These we deeply regret.

FMI: www.jal.com/en