Cover Story
June 1st 2012
Japan Airlines, essentially bankrupt in 2010, is back from the dead in 2012 with record profits; Qantas Airways, its international arm awash in losses, is facing major challenges at home and abroad and is fighting for its survival.
A CAUTIONARY TALE OF TWO ICONS Read More »
Japan Airlines and Qantas Airways are icons of the aviation industry. Qantas dates back 90 years to the dawn of the airline industry and was the third global carrier to introduce the super jumbo A380 into its fleet in 2008.
JAL once had the world’s largest fleet of Boeing 747s – 112. Today, following massive restructuring to exit bankruptcy protection, it has none. The slimmed down JAL has made a remarkable recovery that Qantas can only dream about. If nothing else, the fortunes of the two carriers demonstrate that global recessions and the hugely expensive dog-eat-dog world of airline economics are no respecters of icons.
Orient Aviation charts the paths of the two carriers and asks what lessons the industry can learn from the experiences of JAL and Qantas.
