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JAL Engineering employs more than 4,000 engineers and mechanics.
What does JAL look for in an MRO partner? The evaluation criteria are not solely based on low prices. I believe that is probably the most significant difference from other airlines. However, it is also important whether they can ensure the high quality that Japanese customers expect and whether they can be a stable business partner in the long term.
What are your in-house maintenance capabilities, and which types of MRO work does JAL choose to outsource to third-party providers? This includes operational maintenance for all aircraft, heavy maintenance, component maintenance including landing gear, and some engine maintenance for our fleet. Specifically, for the landing gear of Boeing 787-8 aircraft, we perform maintenance as a Boeing-certified facility. We outsource heavy maintenance for approximately half of our aircraft to ST Engineering and the HAECO Group. For heavy maintenance that requires significant labor and would be burdensome to perform domestically, we often carry it out overseas. Approximately half of our heavy maintenance is outsourced to overseas MRO providers.
For engines, we outsource the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines for Airbus A350 aircraft to Rolls-Royce. We also frequently outsource tasks such as cargo aircraft modifications and large-scale cabin refurbishments.
For other tasks, we carefully balance and consider our in-house maintenance resources. For major component maintenance of aircraft such as Boeing 737-800 and 787, Airbus A350, Embraer ERJ and ATR aircraft, we rely on external contractors, but we perform maintenance on some critical components in-house.
What are the benefits of having JAL’s particular in-house MRO capabilities? Through diverse capabilities, we can enhance the quality of our fleet. Additionally, we can control the turnaround time in-house. We have an ultimate goal called Zero Zero One Hundred. The first zero means zero irregular operations, the second zero means zero flight defects, and the 100 means zero delays caused by aircraft—in other words, achieving a 100% on-time departure rate. Do you think this is a pretty crazy goal? I think so, too. However, we believe that providing the best service to our customers can be achieved by reaching such an ultimate goal. For this reason, we strive to diversify our capabilities.
Which technologies are you looking to invest in for maintenance? We actively invest in initiatives that leverage digital transformation to reduce workloads and enhance aircraft quality, such as analyzing diverse sensor data for failure prediction and automating operational maintenance planning using quantum computers. Additionally, we believe that updating outdated equipment to enable more efficient work for our maintenance engineers is also an important investment.
JAL migrated its MRO system to the Lufthansa NetLine Ops system this year. What were the benefits of doing so? This system is used in a limited capacity, specifically for assigning aircraft to schedules (which we call routing) and for some aspects of operational maintenance planning. We continue to use SAP ECC 6.0 as our core system, handling most of our operations, from work planning, parts supply and qualification management to accounting. However, as you may know, the maintenance period for this system is soon coming to an end. Therefore, we plan to update it over the next few years and are in the process of selecting a successor product. As we update our core system, we plan to actively invest in improving aircraft quality and productivity, focusing on failure prediction.
How has the JAL supply chain performed? Have there been challenges? How have you improved this in recent times? I believe this is the same for every company, but the situation remains quite challenging. I thought things would improve with time after COVID, but the impact has lasted longer than expected, and I sometimes pessimistically think that we may never return to the pre-COVID state. We are struggling particularly with issues related to passenger seats.
Have you found difficulties in securing slot availability for maintenance? How do you navigate this? Fortunately, we are not currently facing difficulties, thanks to our good relationships with our partners. However, there is a significant possibility that we may encounter challenges in the near future. Therefore, we will continue to maintain careful communication with our partners, such as sharing detailed future demand projections over the long term. JAL has not significantly increased the number of newly received aircraft in recent years, but even if this did increase, we will still have capacity.
How is the current labor market for skilled technicians in Japan? Is it challenging to find the right people to fit certain roles? This is a very important and serious issue. It is not limited to the aviation industry, but in Japan, which is facing a structural population decline, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find skilled technicians. This has become even more challenging amid the rapid economic recovery following COVID. Additionally, in Japan, labor mobility is low, and there is a strong tendency for people to work long-term at the company they first join after graduating from school. Job changes are not very common. This means we need to secure young workers right after graduation. But unfortunately, the aviation industry is becoming a less popular career choice. There are various reasons for this, but one significant factor might be that many people now perceive it as a highly volatile industry due to COVID.
How has JAL looked to overcome these labor-related challenges? Fortunately, the government, including the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau, recognizes this as an industrywide issue, and various initiatives are being undertaken in cooperation between the public and private sectors. These initiatives include the recruitment of foreign workers, which has not been common in Japan until now. We are working with local schools in countries such as Mongolia, the Philippines and Thailand to bring skilled young people to work in Japan.
Additionally, we are actively collaborating with Japanese schools and have started initiatives to spark interest in the aviation industry from a younger age, such as visiting elementary and middle schools. There are also challenges, such as the longer time required to obtain maintenance engineer qualifications compared with other countries, and a review of the qualification and examination systems is being considered. In this way, comprehensive efforts are being made with a sense of urgency, from recruitment to training.
Japan Airlines Fact File
Headquarters: Shinagawa, Tokyo
History: Established in 1951 as a government-owned airline, Japan Airlines became the national carrier of Japan two years later and operated for several decades before being privatized in 1987. Over the decades, the airline has expanded in size, and it merged with Japan Air System in 2002. Today, the carrier is part of the JAL Group, which has stakes in several other regional and domestic carriers including J-Air, Japan Air Commuter, Japan Transocean Air, Hokkaido Air System and Ryukyu Air Commuter. It also operates JAL Cargo for freight and mail services. The flag carrier’s main hubs are located at Tokyo’s Narita and Haneda airports, as well as Osaka’s Kansai and Itami airports.
Fleet: Japan Airlines operates a fleet of just fewer than 150 aircraft, most of which are owned rather than leased. The flag carrier’s fleet consists of Boeing 737-800, 767-300ER, 777-300ER, 787-8 and -9 aircraft, and Airbus A350-900 and -1000 aircraft. JAL’s cargo airline division operates two 767-300BCFs. The airline has orders and commitments in place for more 787s and A350s widebodies. For narrowbodies, it has orders in place for 737 MAX and A321neo aircraft.
MRO: JAL Engineering, established in 2009, undertakes a mix of JAL Group aircraft maintenance work while also being contracted by more than 50 companies globally to carry out maintenance services. Its MRO division employs more than 4,000 engineers and mechanics and operates bases at Tokyo Haneda and Narita airports as well as at Itami airport in Osaka.
