Addendum
Japan Airlines announces major leadership transition
February 1st 2018
Yoshiharu Ueki (65), the former pilot credited with leading Japan Airlines’ recovery from bankruptcy, is to move up to company chairman, following the announcement that current chairman, Masaru Onishi, will remain on the group’s board but will relinquish the chairmanship. Read More »
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Ueki’s successor at JAL is managing executive officer engineering and maintenance, Yuji Akasaka (56). The leadership changes will come into effect on April 1 and are subject to shareholder approval at the company’s annual general meeting in June.
Ueki, who was the 2013 Orient Aviation Person of the Year, said at a press conference in Tokyo last month that he had set a six year presidential term as his goal. “I wanted to pass the baton to the next generation before my energy became empty and that came this year,” he said.
Akasaka joined JAL in 1987, the year the carrier was privatized, and has held a number of senior engineering posts and the position of vice president corporate safety and security. “I want to continue developing our business with the intent of securing solid profitability, and not aimlessly pursue scale,” Akasaka told Reuters.
The new president will have the tough task of clawing back market share from ascendant rival, All Nippon Airways (ANA), which overtook JAL as Japan’s largest international airline in 2016. ANA’s rapid and nimble response to JAL’s weakened financial and operating conditions during the carrier’s period of bankruptcy included winning crucial slots at Tokyo Haneda airport, achieving higher customer ratings than JAL and expanding its international network, particularly to North America.
