History of Japan Airlines in Timeline
Japan Airlines (JAL) is the flag carrier of Japan, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its primary hubs are Narita and Haneda airports in Tokyo, with secondary hubs in Osaka's Kansai and Itami airports. The JAL group includes several subsidiary airlines like J-Air, Japan Air Commuter, and JAL Cargo, focusing on domestic feeder services and cargo operations.
August 1951: Japan Airlines Co. established
On August 1, 1951, the original Japan Airlines Co. was established, with the government of Japan recognizing the need for a reliable air transportation system. Between August 27 and 29, the airline operated invitational flights on a Douglas DC-3 Kinsei, leased from Philippine Airlines.
1951: JAL established as government-owned business
In 1951, Japan Airlines was established as a government-owned business.
August 1953: Japan Airlines Company Act passed
On August 1, 1953, the National Diet passed the Japan Airlines Company Act forming a new state-owned Japan Airlines on October 1, which assumed all assets and liabilities of its private predecessor. By 1953, the JAL network extended northward from Tokyo to Sapporo and Misawa, and westward to Nagoya, Osaka, Iwakuni, and Fukuoka.
1953: National airline
In 1953, Japan Airlines became the national airline of Japan.
February 1954: International flights begin
On February 2, 1954, Japan Airlines began international flights, carrying 18 passengers from Tokyo to San Francisco on a Douglas DC-6B City of Tokyo via Wake Island and Honolulu.
1959: Reminiscent Livery
In 1959 the original livery of Japan airlines first appeared, which had a Tsurumaru on the vertical stabilizer.
1960: Introduction of first jet
In 1960, Japan Airlines took delivery of its first jet, a Douglas DC-8 named Fuji, introducing jet service on the Tokyo-Honolulu-San Francisco route.
1961: Transpolar flights
At the end of 1961, Japan Airlines had transpolar flights from Tokyo to Seattle, Copenhagen, London, and Paris via Anchorage, Alaska, and to Los Angeles and San Francisco via Honolulu, Hawaii.
1965: Headquarters in Tokyo Building
By 1965, Japan Airlines was headquartered in the Tokyo Building in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo. Around this time, over half of JAL's revenue was generated on transpacific routes to the United States.
November 1966: Transpacific route extended to New York
In November 1966, the transpacific route was extended east from San Francisco to New York.
April 1967: Joint service between Tokyo and Moscow started
In April 1967, Japan Airlines had an agreement with Aeroflot to operate a joint service between Tokyo and Moscow using a Soviet Tupolev Tu-114. The flight crew included one JAL member, and the cabin crew had five members each from Aeroflot and JAL. The weekly flight started in April 1967.
1967: Transpacific route extended to London
In 1967, the transpacific route was extended east from San Francisco to London.
1970: Attention Please Drama
In 1970, Attention Please, a drama about a young girl who joined JAL to be a cabin attendant, was released.
December 1972: Flights between San Francisco and London ended
In December 1972, Japan Airlines flights between San Francisco and London ended.
1972: Flag carrier status granted
In 1972, under the 45/47 system, Japan Airlines was granted flag carrier status to operate international routes and designated to operate domestic trunk routes.
1974: Fuji retired
In 1974, the Douglas DC-8 Fuji flew until and was then used as a maintenance training platform.
1978: Flights to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro started
In 1978, Japan Airlines started flights to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro via Anchorage and San Juan.
1982: Stopover changed to Los Angeles
In 1982, the stopover on flights to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro was changed to Los Angeles.
1985: Abandoning of the 45/47 system
In 1985, the government announced the abandoning of the 45/47 system.
1987: Retirement of DC-8s
In 1987, Japan Airlines retired the last of its Douglas DC-8s.
1987: Complete privatisation
In 1987, Japan Airlines was completely privatised, and the other two airlines in Japan, All Nippon Airways and Japan Air System, were permitted to compete with JAL on domestic and international routes.
1989: Original Brand Identity
In 1989, JAL used the simple red square and gray rectangle as a part of their brand identity before rebranding in the 2000s
1989: New brand identity and livery
In 1989, Landor Associates created JAL's brand identity. A new livery featuring a stylized JAL initialism with a red square and grey band on the front of the fuselage was created. The name "Japan Airlines" was featured in small black text, and the 'Tsuru' crane logo was retained on the tail.
1989: Maintenance training platform
In 1989, the Douglas DC-8 Fuji was used as a maintenance training platform and its nose section was stored at Haneda Airport.
October 1990: Japan Air Charter established
In October 1990, Japan Air Charter was established.
1992: Operating losses reported
Despite years of profits since 1986, Japan Airlines began to report operating losses in 1992 due to economic difficulties.
September 1996: Official airline of Tokyo Disneyland
In September 1996, an agreement with the Walt Disney Company made Japan Airlines the official airline of Tokyo Disneyland.
April 1997: JAL Express established
In April 1997, Japan Airlines Express was established, with Boeing 737 aircraft.
1999: Return to profitability
In 1999, cost-cutting helped Japan Airlines return to profitability.
1999: Stopover changed to New York
In 1999, the stopover on flights to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro was changed to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
2001: Merger agreement
In 2001, Japan Air System and Japan Airlines agreed to merge.
October 2002: New holding company established
On October 2, 2002, Japan Air System and Japan Airlines established a new holding company called Japan Airlines System, forming a new core of the JAL Group. At that time, the merged group of airlines was the sixth largest in the world by passengers carried.
2002: Merger with Japan Air System
In 2002, Japan Airlines merged with Japan Air System (JAS), Japan's third-largest airline, to become the sixth-largest airline in the world by passengers carried.
April 2004: Rebranding Completion
In April 2004, the rebranding of Japan Airlines that started in April 2002 was completed. The brand identity firm designed 300,000 specific items for JAL, and the JAL acronym was changed to include a curved bar, which replaced the simple red square and gray rectangle used from 1989. The tail now featured a quarter sun outlined in silver.
April 2004: Name changes
On April 1, 2004, Japan Airlines changed its name to Japan Airlines International and JAS changed its name to Japan Airlines Domestic. JAS flight codes were changed to JAL flight codes, JAS check-in desks were refitted in JAL livery, and JAS aircraft were gradually repainted.
June 2004: Parent company renamed
On June 26, 2004, the parent company Japan Airlines System was renamed to Japan Airlines Corporation.
October 2005: Application to join Oneworld
On October 25, 2005, Japan Airlines applied to join Oneworld.
October 2006: Merger into single brand
On October 1, 2006, Japan Airlines International and Japan Airlines Domestic merged into a single brand, Japan Airlines International.
2006: Attention Please Remake
In 2006, Attention Please was remade starring Aya Ueto, who joins a class of cabin attendant nominees and later graduates. Most of the action takes place at JAL's Haneda flight operations headquarters.
April 2007: Joins Oneworld alliance
On April 1, 2007, Japan Airlines, together with Malév and Royal Jordanian, joined the Oneworld alliance.
April 2008: JAA operations merged into JAL mainline operations
On April 1, 2008, Japan Airlines merged the operations of its subsidiary Japan Asia Airways (JAA) into JAL mainline operations.
August 2008: Introduction of New Seats
On August 1, 2008, JAL introduced new international First and Executive Class seats, specifically the JAL Suite for First Class and the JAL Shell Flat Neo Seat for Executive Class Seasons. These seats, along with the Premium Economy seats, debuted on Japan Airlines Flights 5 and 6, operated on the Tokyo–New York route.
September 2008: Expansion of New Seats
On September 13, 2008, the new First and Executive Class seats which debuted on the Tokyo-New York route on August 1st were expanded to the Tokyo-San Francisco route.
2008: MAGIC-III Channel Expansion
In 2008, the number of movie, music, video, and game channels on MAGIC-III was doubled from 57 to 130. MAGIC-III is installed on all seats on Boeing 767-300ER, 777-200ER and 777-300ER aircraft.
March 2009: International and Domestic Route Changes
In March 2009, the airline introduced or increased services on ten international routes, including between Tokyo (Narita) and New York City, and between Osaka (Kansai) and Shanghai. JAL ceased operations on four international routes, including between Tokyo (Narita) and Xi'an, and between Osaka (Kansai) and Qingdao. Domestically, JAL suspended 14 routes, including between Sapporo and Okinawa. The airline expanded codesharing alliance with fellow Oneworld partners like American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Finnair, and other airlines, including Air France, China Eastern and Jetstar.
March 2009: Fiscal year operations
In the fiscal year ended March 2009, Japan Airlines carried over 52 million passengers and over 1.1 million tons of cargo and mail.
September 2009: Corporate turnaround task force formed
In September 2009, Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism formed a task force aimed at aiding a corporate turnaround at Japan Airlines (JAL).
2009: Further Expansion of New Seats
In 2009, Japan Airlines expanded the routes with new First and Executive Class seats to include Tokyo–Chicago and Tokyo–Los Angeles routes.
2009: Kazuo Inamori takes over as CEO
In 2009, Kazuo Inamori, founder of Kyocera and KDDI, took over as CEO of Japan Airlines.
2009: Fifth-freedom flights operated
Until 2009, Japan Airlines operated fifth-freedom flights between New York and São Paulo and between Vancouver and Mexico City.
January 2010: Application for protection under the Corporate Rehabilitation Law
On January 19, 2010, Japan Airlines applied for protection under the Corporate Rehabilitation Law. JAL would receive a ¥300 billion cash injection and have debts worth ¥730 billion waived, in exchange for which it will cut its capital to zero, cut unprofitable routes and reduce its workforce by 15,700 employees.
2010: New Cabin Flew Narita to Jakarta
Between 2010 and 2017, the new cabin was also flown on flights from Narita to Jakarta, the only Asian destination for which the new cabin was used during that period.
April 2011: New Branding
On April 1, 2011, JAL changed its branding as part of their post-bankruptcy restructuring. The new livery featured the tsurumaru back on the vertical stabilizer and the full name in capital italic letters above the windows.
2013: New Economy and Premium Economy Seats
In 2013, JAL debuted new versions of its economy and premium economy seats called Sky Premium and Sky Wider Economy respectively.
March 2014: Nose section on public display
In March 2014, the nose section of the Douglas DC-8 Fuji was put on public display at the JAL Sky Museum.
March 2015: Job Cuts
In August, it was reported that JAL would cut 19,133 jobs from its workforce of 47,000 by the end of March 2015 – whilst also increasing capacity – in an attempt to make the business viable.
2015: Sky Suite II Introduction
In 2015, JAL introduced a new version of Sky Suite, called Sky Suite II, to fit lie-flat seats on its new international 767-300ER fleet (named SS6), in a 1-2-1 setup.
January 2016: Repainting Completion
In January 2016, the repainting of the fleet was completed as part of the branding changes made in April 2011, featuring the tsurumaru and the full name of Japan Airlines.
2016: Sky Suite III Introduction
In 2016, JAL introduced a third version of Sky Suite, called Sky Suite III, which is a lie-flat reverse-herringbone arranged seat, to upgrade its Boeing 777-200ER fleet used on selected inter-Asian and Hawaiian flights.
2016: Children's Menu Launch
In 2016, Japan Airlines launched a children's menu created by chefs Fumiko Kono, Chikara Yamada, Seiji Yamammoto, and Yosuke Suga.
2017: New Cabin Flew Narita to Jakarta
Between 2010 and 2017, the new cabin was also flown on flights from Narita to Jakarta, the only Asian destination for which the new cabin was used during that period.
January 2024: New Cabin Debut on A350-1000
In January 2024, Japan Airlines debuted new First, Business, Premium Economy, and Economy class cabins on their A350-1000 fleet of aircraft. These cabins include enclosed suites, manufactured by Safran GB, and in-seat audio in the First and Business class cabins. The A350-1000 includes 6 First class seats, 54 Business class seats, 24 Premium Economy seats, and 155 Economy seats.
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