Japanese carriers are the most exposed to the current troubles of the new Boeing 787. With all aircraft being grounded, both All Nippon Airways and JAL struggle to keep up with their schedule and find replacement solutions…
KUALA LUMPUR- All Nippon Airways waited for it for so long, due to delays in its delivery. And then, after being finally put into service last year, the Japanese carrier and its competitor Japan Airlines are now confronted to a grounding of all 787 jets and wait again to see the aircraft taking to the skies. Aviation safety agencies in the United States and Japan are now investigating what caused lithium-ion batteries to burn on two 787 passenger jets earlier in January, prompting this worldwide grounding.
Both airlines are now recouping the cost of the damage encountered from the cancellation of flights.
According to Associated Press, All Nippon Airways Chief Financial Officer Kiyoshi Tonomoto declared to reporters that the airline was focused on investigating the cause of the 787 battery problems, and it was not yet in damage negotiations with Boeing Co. He also said efforts were focused on minimizing flight disruptions and revenue losses by using other aircraft. But it is not excluded that the airline will seek compensation as Tonomoto highlighted to reporters. Once all the problems are fixed, ANA is most likely to ask for compensation. It will be difficult to Boeing to refuse as ANA is the launch customer of the B787 and due to the long exclusive relation enjoyed by the US airplane manufacturer with Japanese air carriers.
ANA Vice President explained to AP that ANA revenue will be eroded by about 3 percent for this fiscal year ending March 31 if the 787 services can’t be resumed, but that will translate to minimal impact on profit.
ANA is currently the biggest customer of the Dreamliner B787 with 17 jets in its fleet. The grounding forced the carrier to cancel 459 domestic and international flights canceled this month, causing about 1.4 billion yen ($15.4 million) in lost revenue. It said it was unclear when the aircraft will be cleared by regulators to fly again.
At Japan Airlines, Chairman Masaru Onishi monitors also the situation. “We were forced to replace all the flights by other aircraft. For us at Japan Airlines, we put back Boeing 777 and Boeing 767 instead of the B787. However while the Boeing 767 has a seat capacity similar to the Dreamliner, it is bigger for the Boeing 777. Which means that we experience on some routes a reduction in our load factor from 80% to 60%”, indicated JAL Chairman Masaru Onishi, during the inception of Malaysia Airlines as a Oneworld member in Kuala Lumpur last week.
The most troublesome route was San Diego just launched as the Boeing 787 was the only one to fly this route profitably out of Tokyo. “We have been forced so far to cancel the route as it is absolutely not suitable for a Boeing 777 and rebook passengers to Los Angeles. However, we switch our Boston operation on a B777”, said Mr. Onishi. The carrier which was also due to start a new route from Tokyo to Helsinki is now pushing back the launch of the flight. It could probably occur during the second half of 2013 instead of March.
JAL is hopeful that the grounding will not take more than two months. From a fleet of 50 aircraft Boeing 787 being already in service, both JAL and ANA operate indeed 24 of them all together.
In January, a lithium-ion battery in a 787 operated by ANA overheated, forcing the aircraft to do an emergency landing in Southwestern Japan, a few minutes after taking off. During the same week, a Japan Airlines Dreamliner suffered a battery fire while parked at a Boston airport. ANA and JAL were the first carriers to stop flying the 787 jets, known as the Dreamliner.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
