Great documentary! JAL is my top choice when flying to Japan. Their fleet of Boeing 787s have the best economy class configuration out there. Generous 33' seat pitch in a 2-4-2 arrangement. Nothing can beat that.
Man, having a national airline go down is pretty awful indeed. We had that happen to Swissair here. It was such a symbol and object of national pride. "The flying bank". "World's best airline" for years on end. Exceptional service, and courteous beyond expectations. They had many sub-businesses related to aviation with which they financed that service, all of which are still in operation today (Swissport, Gategourmet which was the world's largest airline caterer, SR Technics, Nuance dutyfree...). Yet in 1997, they got a new management, and they panicked due to the latest wave of liberalization in air travel. They started their own alliance with other smaller airlines, but they felt they'd get overpowered. They decided against joining Star Alliance due to Lufthansa's dominance there. So they got the idea to buy other airlines, reorganizing them and integrating them into their alliance. Four years later, they were bankrupt (and took airlines like Sabena down with them). People from kids to grownups were crying.
This documentary covered very little detail for a 40 minute run time. How did they save JAL? - Management no longer held executive power and was dispersed to lower level supervisors in charge of teams of employees. - Company culture was changed to encourage employee welfare and pride in serving the Japanese people to motivate them. -30% of the workforce was cut. -They started checking their monthly performance and didn't ignore figures that showed a lack of improvement from the previous month. -and cost cutting that they learned from LCCs (the documentary didn't specify what they were however!) And this happens in the last 10 minutes. Badly structured documentary
Some fact checking needed at the first part of the documentary. Many routes and offices in the 80s had been operated through political obligation (especially to the middle east) so they were dropped when JAL privatised and non stop services over Siberia started. Mexico was not a top destination and Brazil was operated to cater for the large Japanese ex-pat community but didn't generate business class revenue. It was actually the first Gulf war and the start of ANA offering international services which started the financial problems which were then compounded by SARS etc later on. I worked for JAL from '86-'99 and during the first Gulf war I remember we had a 747 flight with 6 passengers... Very happy to see it back on its feet
Great comment! Thanks. I just watched the documentary, and they skip from the 92 losses to the 2003 Iraq war - and the "bad habits of the stated owned period... OMG! The Iraq invasion happened three decades after JAL privatization! Propaganda. Misinforming. Brainwashing.
Shivon Gribbin back then Mexico probably wasn’t but now there are two daily flights between Mexico & Japan from two different carriers, AeroMexico & All Nippon Airways. I highly doubt they’d both purposely absorb losses if the flights weren’t profitable just to play good politics.
@@caralhoguy Hi. My sources are from experience. I was working in the Europe, Middle East and Africa regional head office in 1986 where I supplied materials to numerous offices in cities such as Nairobi or Baghdad, without JAL flights, which acted as embassy culture offices. There was irrational spending after privatization stemming from the old national carrier mentality. E.g.When codeshares started, JAL had a JAL crew member (salaries, accommodation etc) on other carrier flights when maybe they only had a 10 or 20 seat allocation. Also employing staff and offices in offline airports for the same reason. At this time i was working in European flight control and trained handling agents and colleagues in Europe for check-in and boarding. Fyi I think JAL was the first to have automated boarding with bp readers which is standard now in most airports.
It wouldn't change Pan-Am's fate. Give Company Man's "Decline of Pan Am... What Happened?" a watch. Pan-Am's fall is more repeated outside forces dealing it blows than bad management. Maybe even better management might steer Pan-Am through, but so would a few better lucky breaks or even a bailout.
I actually remember when Japan Airlines stopped flights to Mexico in July 2010. They were usually less than half full if ever. If they were ever planning on restarting those flights in the near future, they’re out of luck. Aeromexico started flying Mexico City-Tokyo daily as of 2013 if I’m not mistaken and not long after, All Nippon Airways(ANA) started Tokyo-Mexico City in February 2017.
One of the best long haul flights I have ever had was with Japan Airlines. Beautiful crew, comfortable seats (as comfortable as Economy ever is on a long-haul flight) ... and I fell in love with Japan on a 24-hour stopover at Narita.
That's why the whole Hainan Group will go under soon. It's probably funneled CCP money anyway. Coincidentally, CCP probably made Wang Jian pay for it with his life.
Different country, different politics. I wouldn't fly Malaysian airlines or fly to Malaysia with any airline because I don't trust the Malaysian government. I would fly Japan Airlines any day ... as long as I wasn't forced to fly to Malaysia, a m8888m country that treats non m8888m like crap.
Cannot stand this sort of drawn-out documentary. The same point is rehashed and repeated three times, once by the narrator, a second time by an interviewee, a third time again by the narrator using slightly different language. This could be condensed to 15 minutes.
And the use of English is pathetic calling JAL an ‘airliner’ or the so-called expert using ‘aircrafts’ to describe more than one aircraft... no such word, plural of aircraft is aircraft
This ain't a success story, it's a story of Japanese pride above all else. Who do you think paid the fiddler for the billions of dollars in debt "written off"? The little people -specifically the little people in Japan.
LOVED my flight from Dallas to Tokyo on JAL and back! If I ever need to return to Japan, I'll be flying with them again. Screw US based airlines for international travel.
An airline IS a cost intensive industry, that is true. This story has nothing to do with costs. At the same time JAL was doing all this, a man in Texas also started an airline, and made quality management decisions, and had quality leadership he trusted. They made Southwest Airlines both a huge airline, but also a profitable airline. While JAL grew into businesses and bought other airlines it knew nothing about, Southwest grew it's fleet, but decided ONLY to fly 737's, and ONLY snacks, and ONLY do many things, all in order to control costs, and keep customers loyal. You may recall this documentary stated the interest rates in the US were for several years, between 15% and 23%. During this time Southwest grew in profitability. In short if a professional manager realizes he operates a cost intensive business, he restrains costs intensely. JAL had a Board of Directors who were Government Parasites, and had no idea how to compete in the real world. This documentary is about incompetence. Remember what he said about the first hotel? They bought it, and wasted so much money on it, that it could operate fully booked for 30 years and NEVER make a profit. Who does that? How could anyone ever regard that as a good thing they should go and do in any, ANY business? I understand you view this as a business environmental story, however it is not. You should also understand that the company making this documentary is a Government business. Meadicorp is owned by Temasek, which also owns Singapore Air. So, one of this company's parallel subsidiaries is also a Government owned airline, with a single Nation as its primary service target. Singapore Air did not suffer anything near the asinine management that JAL did, yet its' costs were comparable. Therefore we have another indication that this is merely a documentary about incompetence.
Air India can learn something from this Edit: Here after TATA has brought Air India back under their wing. Hopefully they bring about a JAL style turnaround
One of the best long haul flights I have ever had was with JAL (in Economy). I live in Sydney and every flight I have ever had is long-haul. Singapore Airlines and JAL are not cheap but their services puts Qantas and BA in the shade.
Problems faced leading to near bankruptcy -------------------- 1. Government airline in a monopoly market,no sense of urgency 2. Large loans at really low capital cost 3. Diversification away from the core business into Hotels,Tourism etc 4. Decision making was from top to bottom. Hierarchial and slow in the process 5. External events such as the SARs,9/11 led to decrease in demand for airline travel. 6. Acquired a domestic carrier with different planes as compared to its own fleet. Solutions ---------------------------- 1. Appointment of Inamori brought structural changes. 2. Agile teams within the company were formed to provide employees with sense of responsibility towards the airlines 3.Shutting down non profitable routes 4. Salary cuts and job cuts of almost 30 percent. 5. Not compromise on customer service and safety,trying to ignite feeling of nationalism towards JAL from the public.
Is this the same gentleman responsible for revitalizing the rail system? Today, besides rush hour work traffic, it's the best run system in the world, clean, on time and safe. Employing the same philosophy of pride, personal value and helping each other made all the difference. I wonder if this could work in a US company. Everyone needs to feel valued and treated respectfully.
Flight 123 went down in 1985, and JAL was still owned by the government. Being the biggest airlines in Japan at the time of that accident didn’t hurt either. Keep in mind their troubles did surface until the early 90’s. So no, flight 123 didn’t hurt them that much.
Although airline is just a transportation, Japanese demands high-quality service for airline like a 5 star hotel. Beautiful lady attendant, polite hospitality, delicious in-flight meal, etc... I feel it is strange culture. Generally, Japanese think "service is free". But actually, to improve services, it needs money. To make attendants beautiful, it needs money. To train staffs for polite hospitality, it needs money. Everything needs money, and nothing is free. Most of Japanese don't know this simple fact Who pays that money? Cost for service is added to fare. And the cost is shall paid by passenger. We pay money for service even if it is not needed. I am a Japanese and I have traveled many times by airplane. But I have flew by Japan Airline only few times. Because their fare is too expensive due to their high service and their stupid corporate management. I don't need beautiful lady attendant nor polite hospitality. Airlines are just transportation. I think it is enough for me if they bring me from point A to B safely, faster, exact time.
I would pay a little extra for better service and hospitality, especially when "being on time" and great in-flight food come with it. That's why I love Japanese airlines (both JAL and ANA) when I travel to Japan.
Yeah, well thats the beauty of the aviation business. You are a typical LCC client. You see air transport as normal transportation (Im not saying you are wrong tho), but high service adds value and there are enough people who want to pay the price for it. JAL shouldnt focus too much on LCC passengers and should try to develop and grow on their existing markets.
Well, if you want to fly on-time (outside of Japan), I suggest you to fly with LCCs. A plane only makes money when its in the air, and thats why LCCs want to and strive to be always on-time. The best airlines which are on time (in europe) are easyjet ryanair and Wizz.
I agree with you. This idea the Japanese have, that EVERYTHING needs to be perfect is costing Japan dearly in so many ways. It's not only transportation, but logistics and many other industries too. I think Japanese customers need to chill out a bit and accept slightly lower standards, which greatly improve a lot of systems in Japan.
MisterFO Prod.: Thanks for your nice opinion. For old generation in Japan, air travel was a special event in their life. But for present young generation like me, it is casual one. Flying to Seoul to be an audience of Korean pop singer. Flying to Fukuoka to taste one bowl of local noodle. These are already become normal for Japanese youth. Existing market for JAL will soon disappear and new demand will rise. I don't think JAL could fit to change of the market. They seem to stick to traditional values and I think they will collapse again in future market.
I have flown on Japan Airlines for many times and they are just like any other airlines in the world. This documentary makes it sound that they offer " special Japanese service", It was just like flying on any other airline. Nothing special.
Sounds like the story of Air France with whom they have codeshare. Failure to adapt...Behing the times....Feeling of untouchable except their is no comparison between Japanese service and French service. Japan wins hands down!
No matter what any one says, Japan airlines is still number one country, and number one airline in the world, i love Japanese culture, and people, lots of love from Canada 🍁
I used to work alongside with JAL at one of the 787 route airports in the US. Prior to customer boarding we were invited to go inside the 787 and observe their products. Met the flight attendants to my surprise they were rude AF and entitled since we were not customers. lol That being said ive had very friendly and top notch JAL flight attendants who took initiative for me, something Japanese people dont really do since its not under their job description.
Air Asia is miserable; they don't mistreat you like the American carriers but charge extra for everything. The aisle is blocked the entire flight by the flight attendants selling noodle cups and silly toy airplanes. Still a far cry above United, no one gets beaten up.
Robin Sattahip I fly AirAsia as I currently live in Thailand and it’s the most convenient and cheapest to travel by plane. ($15-30 one way is a joke as Airfare back in the West lol but that’s how much Air Asia tickets cost) Anywho flight attendants are attractive but service is subpar but its an LLC so what can you say. That being said they’re pretty Anal when it comes to safety and regulations. Prior to moving to living in TH I was pretty skeptical of Air Asia and other LLC’s but after using them I respect and think they have great standards.
This was so interesting once I tried to buy Japan airlines shares to get discounted flights and was refused cause I am a foreigner my husband told me the reason was because they almost got bankrupt and it was so the company stays japanese I had no idea at the time and now I understand I should watch more videos on economy.
I’m often amazed by so-called experts on this programs that no one has heard of before or will ever again, who use expressions like “too many aircrafts”... no such word as aircrafts, the plural of aircraft is aircraft. Also, the announcer saying “JAL was the first airliner in Asia to operate the 747...” The 747 is an airliner, JAL is an airline.
I've flown with JAL a number of times, but ANA only a few times when I was a small kid. If anyone has recent experience with both, which is better nowadays (both international and domestic fights)?
@TacticalMoonstone I agree, some of their cabin products are outdated, and their service is obviously not on par with the other airlines in the region. BTW Are you referring to their A350-900? I don't really like it as well... But the A350-1000 looks nice though
Wonderful story congratulations CNA! How would US airlines "do a JAL"? Caring about employees, customer service and safety? US airlines used 95% of all profits on dividends and share buybacks? A CEO who didn't accept a salary until he got the company back to profitability? I don't think Americans are built "like that"...
Does anyone else find it odd that appart from United Airlines, no other airline gets ever mentioned troughout the entire length of this documentary? Neither the one(s) taken over by JAL nor the elephant in the room (ANA) or any of the LCCs.
I hope someone tells that guy the important role Japan Airlines plays of connecting Japan to the rest of the world will be fulfilled by other airlines if Japan Airlines goes bankrupt.
There were 2 more moments which led JL into bankruptcy. 1. An accident in 1985, which made more than 500 deaths. Still, there are some people who has allergy to board JL. 2. Acquisition of Japan Air System (JAS), which made 2 systems, 2 wages, 2 labour unions. Now (August, 2020), not only JL but all airline companies are in huge difficulties over COVID-19. Let's see who survives and who disappears.
It's well known, that Japanese airlines used to apologize to their Japanese customers if they assigned to them a sit next to a foreigner, especially in the eighties. So I don't feel very sorry for them, it's unacceptable that in modern age still exists a lot of racists around the world. Unfortunately, this traditions still continues sometimes in railways transportations: japantoday.com/category/national/osaka-train-driver-apologizes-to-japanese-passengers-for-having-many-foreigners-on-board I say this regardless the many Japanese people who are nice and didn't even know that in their laws is perfectly legal to discriminate by race and even put out their shops a "Japanese Only" sign. If something like that happens in any country in Europe, or somewhere else, police come and shut down the place in a minute.
@32:00 The only part that frosted me....what happened to these people's pensions? That really should be sacrosanct. Were the people asked to take a 30% pay cut made whole again once the airline was profitable? Did the people who made the expansions have their heads roll, or get their pensions reconfigured. This program was a bit too much of the standard oral sex given to business.
@Menstrel, the things that were lost were not recovered, money or perks. The effort was asked to employees as usual in Japan, with a sense of nationalism (good luck to foreign employees). @Sean Chang, you got it. The "Buddhist monk" is more known in Japan as the founder of a company, Kyocera (ceramics and electronics). Old-fashioned, traditional, from the most conservative city. The "philosophy" inspired by Buddhist values is thus irrefutable. It's all about giving up your needs, but it's only valid from employee to employer in real life, not the other way around.
15:23 "simply lacked the practical experience required to deal with sudden turbulence" u dont need experience to fire 30% of ur workforce and make the remaining workforce take a 30% salary cut as well as cuts to their pension
Flew JAL twice about 10-12 years ago. Maybe things have changed since then: Aircraft condition - average. Seating space - average. Flight attendants - cute & efficient. Food - BAD (especially if you are a vegetarian .. still have memories of the over-bland soba noodles). Baggage handling -- good.
its all about maintaining the profit margin while minimizing incompetence losses and liabilities. thats how corporations survive. the should also lobby the governments and maintain good standing on legal issues and spying.
pew pew No, I think ANA is better than JAL (especially on long-haul flights, e. g. in terms of food and entertainment). I agree that Asiana is better than Korean Air though.
Nothing changed for the better as far as regular employees are concerned. Pay cuts, stricter rules, loss of most perks including most discounts (already not as good as other airlines originally, anyway) and more working hours AND duties, all this in a patronizing bootcamp-like atmosphere. The mentality, strong hierarchy and string-pulling have remained just the same, with favoritism and bullying to export, except that less people are to benefit from the massively unfair management. Seeing this, some of the previously more zealous employees lost their trust and motivation in the company along with their previous sense of privilege and pride. But in Japan, you know, duties get done anyway in a stoical and generally graceful manner, for fear of reprisals. However you'd be hard pressed to find an employee who genuinely prefers the company now vs before. It was never good but it's just worse for the workforce (as is sadly the case everywhere else).
Private company goes bankrupt - blame its’ erstwhile state ownership. Neoliberal nonsense. A well managed firm is successful and profitable regardless of who previously owned or currently owns it, Air NZ a case in point. Governments frequently bail out private firms, and it isn’t because the private sector is incompetent, but that the culture in that particular firm was poor.
Great documentary! JAL is my top choice when flying to Japan. Their fleet of Boeing 787s have the best economy class configuration out there. Generous 33' seat pitch in a 2-4-2 arrangement. Nothing can beat that.
I live in Sydney and JAL is my top choice when flying anywhere.
Man, having a national airline go down is pretty awful indeed. We had that happen to Swissair here. It was such a symbol and object of national pride. "The flying bank". "World's best airline" for years on end. Exceptional service, and courteous beyond expectations. They had many sub-businesses related to aviation with which they financed that service, all of which are still in operation today (Swissport, Gategourmet which was the world's largest airline caterer, SR Technics, Nuance dutyfree...).
Yet in 1997, they got a new management, and they panicked due to the latest wave of liberalization in air travel. They started their own alliance with other smaller airlines, but they felt they'd get overpowered. They decided against joining Star Alliance due to Lufthansa's dominance there. So they got the idea to buy other airlines, reorganizing them and integrating them into their alliance. Four years later, they were bankrupt (and took airlines like Sabena down with them). People from kids to grownups were crying.
This documentary covered very little detail for a 40 minute run time. How did they save JAL?
- Management no longer held executive power and was dispersed to lower level supervisors in charge of teams of employees.
- Company culture was changed to encourage employee welfare and pride in serving the Japanese people to motivate them.
-30% of the workforce was cut.
-They started checking their monthly performance and didn't ignore figures that showed a lack of improvement from the previous month.
-and cost cutting that they learned from LCCs (the documentary didn't specify what they were however!)
And this happens in the last 10 minutes. Badly structured documentary
But mostly JAL hire a CEO who can persuade its employees to go along with the massive layoff, salary cuts, and pension reductions.
Some fact checking needed at the first part of the documentary. Many routes and offices in the 80s had been operated through political obligation (especially to the middle east) so they were dropped when JAL privatised and non stop services over Siberia started. Mexico was not a top destination and Brazil was operated to cater for the large Japanese ex-pat community but didn't generate business class revenue. It was actually the first Gulf war and the start of ANA offering international services which started the financial problems which were then compounded by SARS etc later on. I worked for JAL from '86-'99 and during the first Gulf war I remember we had a 747 flight with 6 passengers...
Very happy to see it back on its feet
Great comment! Thanks. I just watched the documentary, and they skip from the 92 losses to the 2003 Iraq war - and the "bad habits of the stated owned period... OMG! The Iraq invasion happened three decades after JAL privatization!
Propaganda. Misinforming. Brainwashing.
Shivon Gribbin Got any sources?
A better term is cherry picking. The iraq war and sept 11 was still in recent memories than the gulf war, so that's why they left it out.
Shivon Gribbin back then Mexico probably wasn’t but now there are two daily flights between Mexico & Japan from two different carriers, AeroMexico & All Nippon Airways. I highly doubt they’d both purposely absorb losses if the flights weren’t profitable just to play good politics.
@@caralhoguy Hi. My sources are from experience. I was working in the Europe, Middle East and Africa regional head office in 1986 where I supplied materials to numerous offices in cities such as Nairobi or Baghdad, without JAL flights, which acted as embassy culture offices. There was irrational spending after privatization stemming from the old national carrier mentality. E.g.When codeshares started, JAL had a JAL crew member (salaries, accommodation etc) on other carrier flights when maybe they only had a 10 or 20 seat allocation. Also employing staff and offices in offline airports for the same reason. At this time i was working in European flight control and trained handling agents and colleagues in Europe for check-in and boarding. Fyi I think JAL was the first to have automated boarding with bp readers which is standard now in most airports.
I wished Pan-Am got a buddhist monk for their CEO XD
shit, dont we all.
It wouldn't change Pan-Am's fate. Give Company Man's "Decline of Pan Am... What Happened?" a watch. Pan-Am's fall is more repeated outside forces dealing it blows than bad management. Maybe even better management might steer Pan-Am through, but so would a few better lucky breaks or even a bailout.
maybe a pdf priest ?
Same with Varig
u dont need a monk to sack ppl and do 30% wage cuts on remaining staff ...
I actually remember when Japan Airlines stopped flights to Mexico in July 2010. They were usually less than half full if ever. If they were ever planning on restarting those flights in the near future, they’re out of luck. Aeromexico started flying Mexico City-Tokyo daily as of 2013 if I’m not mistaken and not long after, All Nippon Airways(ANA) started Tokyo-Mexico City in February 2017.
Flown with JAL twice. Great service, polite and helpful staff. My No.1 choice for flying to Japan now.
Ironically, an ANA ad played before this video.
ANA is JAL's main competitor.
It’s not ironic. It’s intentional.
One of the best long haul flights I have ever had was with Japan Airlines. Beautiful crew, comfortable seats (as comfortable as Economy ever is on a long-haul flight) ... and I fell in love with Japan on a 24-hour stopover at Narita.
I got an ana ad while watching this
Hahahaha....ANA is a gremlin ...
don't worry, JAL has a sacred trick: when it gets real red, they sack ppl and cut wages .... hence .
Here's one... Relax, ANA doesn't fly B737 Max... EVER!
What jal did in the 80th, is exactly Hainan airlines doing right now, investing hotel...
I know, impending bankruptcy in 2025
Agree with u, liberty
I was thinking exactly the same analogy...
That's why the whole Hainan Group will go under soon. It's probably funneled CCP money anyway. Coincidentally, CCP probably made Wang Jian pay for it with his life.
Next year march 2019, babalik ako ng Japan, and see you Japan airlines 🇵🇭💟🇯🇵
Hopefully Malaysia Airlines will learn from them too and step out of the red! #malaysiaairlines
They have to stop losing airplanes first.
@Q0ET9U Too soon
@@djinn666 we only have 3 crashes xD
Nahhhhh, don't think they have the same culltural philosophy, which was a big part of saving JAL...
Different country, different politics. I wouldn't fly Malaysian airlines or fly to Malaysia with any airline because I don't trust the Malaysian government. I would fly Japan Airlines any day ... as long as I wasn't forced to fly to Malaysia, a m8888m country that treats non m8888m like crap.
Been to both ANA and Japan Airline, two of best airlines in term of customer service in the world
you guys should make one about Malaysia Airlines about how and why they fell and whether they can recover? it will be an interesting video
Cannot stand this sort of drawn-out documentary. The same point is rehashed and repeated three times, once by the narrator, a second time by an interviewee, a third time again by the narrator using slightly different language. This could be condensed to 15 minutes.
Jānis Lībeks I agree. It’s edited to fill a one hour time slot with commercials. What a waste of time. I had to watch it at 2x the speed.
Although I enjoyed this I now realise why my mind kept wandering. My brain kept hearing the same thing multiple times. Thanks for explaining why.
And the use of English is pathetic calling JAL an ‘airliner’ or the so-called expert using ‘aircrafts’ to describe more than one aircraft... no such word, plural of aircraft is aircraft
A very good business case study when things are on the up and up don't get too excited
Spot on!
Nice documentary for how innovation and focus can resolve hard economic issues.
Let's hope the JAL employees like to work for the company.
They don't, they have to pretend they do.
Very good doc.
I got a japan airlines advertisement before this video
This ain't a success story, it's a story of Japanese pride above all else. Who do you think paid the fiddler for the billions of dollars in debt "written off"? The little people -specifically the little people in Japan.
LOVED my flight from Dallas to Tokyo on JAL and back! If I ever need to return to Japan, I'll be flying with them again. Screw US based airlines for international travel.
JAL is too expensive. I prefer to use LCC.
The conceptions that airplane is superior that train and bus is strange.
Price is priority to me.
りゅうじざま agree
What is LCC?
Sun Ha low cost carrier
Cheaper than ana
Prices of LCC tickets near separture date are also high, then its wortwhile to look at ANA and JAL prices, and sometimes they have offers
Please feature the almost shutdown of Philippine Airlines and how it was saved.
JAL is my very first flight and still remember going on one when i was 1
Nice documentary
Airlines is cost intensive industry
Very much so.
An airline IS a cost intensive industry, that is true. This story has nothing to do with costs.
At the same time JAL was doing all this, a man in Texas also started an airline, and made quality management decisions, and had quality leadership he trusted.
They made Southwest Airlines both a huge airline, but also a profitable airline.
While JAL grew into businesses and bought other airlines it knew nothing about, Southwest grew it's fleet, but decided ONLY to fly 737's, and ONLY snacks, and ONLY do many things, all in order to control costs, and keep customers loyal.
You may recall this documentary stated the interest rates in the US were for several years, between 15% and 23%. During this time Southwest grew in profitability.
In short if a professional manager realizes he operates a cost intensive business, he restrains costs intensely. JAL had a Board of Directors who were Government Parasites, and had no idea how to compete in the real world.
This documentary is about incompetence. Remember what he said about the first hotel? They bought it, and wasted so much money on it, that it could operate fully booked for 30 years and NEVER make a profit.
Who does that? How could anyone ever regard that as a good thing they should go and do in any, ANY business?
I understand you view this as a business environmental story, however it is not.
You should also understand that the company making this documentary is a Government business. Meadicorp is owned by Temasek, which also owns Singapore Air. So, one of this company's parallel subsidiaries is also a Government owned airline, with a single Nation as its primary service target. Singapore Air did not suffer anything near the asinine management that JAL did, yet its' costs were comparable. Therefore we have another indication that this is merely a documentary about incompetence.
The moral of the story is, the government should not intervene and let the private sector handles it.
Saisravan Satturu a
Always remind me of Japan Air 123 ~
Air India can learn something from this
Edit: Here after TATA has brought Air India back under their wing. Hopefully they bring about a JAL style turnaround
Tanmay Bhakta true
Good documentary Channel News Asia. Voice over sounds like Melissa Goh
love flying with JAL. Omotenashi is strong with them. Spacious seats.
One of the best long haul flights I have ever had was with JAL (in Economy). I live in Sydney and every flight I have ever had is long-haul. Singapore Airlines and JAL are not cheap but their services puts Qantas and BA in the shade.
Wow saved by a monk 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Problems faced leading to near bankruptcy
--------------------
1. Government airline in a monopoly market,no sense of urgency
2. Large loans at really low capital cost
3. Diversification away from the core business into Hotels,Tourism etc
4. Decision making was from top to bottom. Hierarchial and slow in the process
5. External events such as the SARs,9/11 led to decrease in demand for airline travel.
6. Acquired a domestic carrier with different planes as compared to its own fleet.
Solutions
----------------------------
1. Appointment of Inamori brought structural changes.
2. Agile teams within the company were formed to provide employees with sense of responsibility towards the airlines
3.Shutting down non profitable routes
4. Salary cuts and job cuts of almost 30 percent.
5. Not compromise on customer service and safety,trying to ignite feeling of nationalism towards JAL from the public.
Is this the same gentleman responsible for revitalizing the rail system? Today, besides rush hour work traffic, it's the best run system in the world, clean, on time and safe. Employing the same philosophy of pride, personal value and helping each other made all the difference. I wonder if this could work in a US company. Everyone needs to feel valued and treated respectfully.
The crash of Japan airways 123 did not help too did not mention that
Flight 123 went down in 1985, and JAL was still owned by the government. Being the biggest airlines in Japan at the time of that accident didn’t hurt either. Keep in mind their troubles did surface until the early 90’s. So no, flight 123 didn’t hurt them that much.
@@paulyiustravelogue I agree, well said...and the captain of JAL 123 was a great man, until the v last....he tried the impossible ....
Although airline is just a transportation, Japanese demands high-quality service for airline like a 5 star hotel.
Beautiful lady attendant, polite hospitality, delicious in-flight meal, etc...
I feel it is strange culture.
Generally, Japanese think "service is free".
But actually, to improve services, it needs money.
To make attendants beautiful, it needs money.
To train staffs for polite hospitality, it needs money.
Everything needs money, and nothing is free.
Most of Japanese don't know this simple fact
Who pays that money?
Cost for service is added to fare.
And the cost is shall paid by passenger.
We pay money for service even if it is not needed.
I am a Japanese and I have traveled many times by airplane.
But I have flew by Japan Airline only few times.
Because their fare is too expensive due to their high service and their stupid corporate management.
I don't need beautiful lady attendant nor polite hospitality.
Airlines are just transportation.
I think it is enough for me if they bring me from point A to B safely, faster, exact time.
I would pay a little extra for better service and hospitality, especially when "being on time" and great in-flight food come with it. That's why I love Japanese airlines (both JAL and ANA) when I travel to Japan.
Yeah, well thats the beauty of the aviation business. You are a typical LCC client. You see air transport as normal transportation (Im not saying you are wrong tho), but high service adds value and there are enough people who want to pay the price for it. JAL shouldnt focus too much on LCC passengers and should try to develop and grow on their existing markets.
Well, if you want to fly on-time (outside of Japan), I suggest you to fly with LCCs. A plane only makes money when its in the air, and thats why LCCs want to and strive to be always on-time. The best airlines which are on time (in europe) are easyjet ryanair and Wizz.
I agree with you. This idea the Japanese have, that EVERYTHING needs to be perfect is costing Japan dearly in so many ways. It's not only transportation, but logistics and many other industries too. I think Japanese customers need to chill out a bit and accept slightly lower standards, which greatly improve a lot of systems in Japan.
MisterFO Prod.:
Thanks for your nice opinion.
For old generation in Japan, air travel was a special event in their life.
But for present young generation like me, it is casual one.
Flying to Seoul to be an audience of Korean pop singer.
Flying to Fukuoka to taste one bowl of local noodle.
These are already become normal for Japanese youth.
Existing market for JAL will soon disappear and new demand will rise.
I don't think JAL could fit to change of the market.
They seem to stick to traditional values and I think they will collapse again in future market.
i, too, love the service on Jal flights…when flying to japan, i prefer to choose jal :/
Great documentary!
I really hope you guys do a documentary like this on how Sony was turned around. Or Panasonic.
If you're looking for a different thread, just Google it. Seriously! This story is about JAL
What about competition with All Nippon Airways that has an effect on Japan Airlines too.
Japan Airlines business class customer service was incredible.
The numbers here are astronomical!! 25 Billions $ loss!?
I have flown on Japan Airlines for many times and they are just like any other airlines in the world. This documentary makes it sound that they offer " special Japanese service", It was just like flying on any other airline. Nothing special.
MAS should very much learn from JAL
Sounds like the story of Air France with whom they have codeshare. Failure to adapt...Behing the times....Feeling of untouchable except their is no comparison between Japanese service and French service. Japan wins hands down!
Japan airline’s logo looks like the rebel alliance from Star Wars
now please do PHILIPPINE AIRLINES
Who are watching this in 2020 Covid-19 Period? I hope SIA will be able to raise enough capital and fly high again in near future.
No matter what any one says, Japan airlines is still number one country, and number one airline in the world, i love Japanese culture, and people, lots of love from Canada 🍁
This man is such a humble person what a human being should look to be
Not on board. Wouldn't greet the crew.
I used to work alongside with JAL at one of the 787 route airports in the US. Prior to customer boarding we were invited to go inside the 787 and observe their products. Met the flight attendants to my surprise they were rude AF and entitled since we were not customers. lol That being said ive had very friendly and top notch JAL flight attendants who took initiative for me, something Japanese people dont really do since its not under their job description.
Air Asia is miserable; they don't mistreat you like the American carriers but charge extra for everything. The aisle is blocked the entire flight by the flight attendants selling noodle cups and silly toy airplanes. Still a far cry above United, no one gets beaten up.
Robin Sattahip I fly AirAsia as I currently live in Thailand and it’s the most convenient and cheapest to travel by plane. ($15-30 one way is a joke as Airfare back in the West lol but that’s how much Air Asia tickets cost) Anywho flight attendants are attractive but service is subpar but its an LLC so what can you say. That being said they’re pretty Anal when it comes to safety and regulations. Prior to moving to living in TH I was pretty skeptical of Air Asia and other LLC’s but after using them I respect and think they have great standards.
This was so interesting once I tried to buy Japan airlines shares to get discounted flights and was refused cause I am a foreigner my husband told me the reason was because they almost got bankrupt and it was so the company stays japanese I had no idea at the time and now I understand I should watch more videos on economy.
Japan best country.
The history reminds me on Swissair
Swissair shouldn't have happened ..
@SwissMarksman why?
The Government & the Banks somehow betrayed the Airline when it was in deepshit. The rest is history.
Except no one saved SwissAir and they ceased to exist.
Similar problem faced by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)
I’m often amazed by so-called experts on this programs that no one has heard of before or will ever again, who use expressions like “too many aircrafts”... no such word as aircrafts, the plural of aircraft is aircraft. Also, the announcer saying “JAL was the first airliner in Asia to operate the 747...” The 747 is an airliner, JAL is an airline.
I've flown with JAL a number of times, but ANA only a few times when I was a small kid. If anyone has recent experience with both, which is better nowadays (both international and domestic fights)?
Hope Cathay Pacific can take note and be profitable again soon.
@TacticalMoonstone I agree, some of their cabin products are outdated, and their service is obviously not on par with the other airlines in the region. BTW Are you referring to their A350-900? I don't really like it as well... But the A350-1000 looks nice though
Wonderful story congratulations CNA! How would US airlines "do a JAL"? Caring about employees, customer service and safety? US airlines used 95% of all profits on dividends and share buybacks? A CEO who didn't accept a salary until he got the company back to profitability? I don't think Americans are built "like that"...
Does anyone else find it odd that appart from United Airlines, no other airline gets ever mentioned troughout the entire length of this documentary?
Neither the one(s) taken over by JAL nor the elephant in the room (ANA) or any of the LCCs.
I hope someone tells that guy the important role Japan Airlines plays of connecting Japan to the rest of the world will be fulfilled by other airlines if Japan Airlines goes bankrupt.
Love JAL! They always upgraded staff.
It’s all easy in hindsight - really is 20/20 as they say. Probably not so obvious at the time as it appears now looking back.
There were 2 more moments which led JL into bankruptcy.
1. An accident in 1985, which made more than 500 deaths. Still, there are some people who has allergy to board JL.
2. Acquisition of Japan Air System (JAS), which made 2 systems, 2 wages, 2 labour unions.
Now (August, 2020), not only JL but all airline companies are in huge difficulties over COVID-19.
Let's see who survives and who disappears.
It's well known, that Japanese airlines used to apologize to their Japanese customers if they assigned to them a sit next to a foreigner, especially in the eighties. So I don't feel very sorry for them, it's unacceptable that in modern age still exists a lot of racists around the world. Unfortunately, this traditions still continues sometimes in railways transportations:
japantoday.com/category/national/osaka-train-driver-apologizes-to-japanese-passengers-for-having-many-foreigners-on-board
I say this regardless the many Japanese people who are nice and didn't even know that in their laws is perfectly legal to discriminate by race and even put out their shops a "Japanese Only" sign. If something like that happens in any country in Europe, or somewhere else, police come and shut down the place in a minute.
You guys have the date wrong. JAL filled for bankruptcy in 2009 not 1992.
@32:00 The only part that frosted me....what happened to these people's pensions? That really should be sacrosanct. Were the people asked to take a 30% pay cut made whole again once the airline was profitable? Did the people who made the expansions have their heads roll, or get their pensions reconfigured.
This program was a bit too much of the standard oral sex given to business.
JAL hired a Buddist monk to "persuade" its employees to go along with massive layoffs, salary cuts and pension "reconfiguration".
@Menstrel, the things that were lost were not recovered, money or perks.
The effort was asked to employees as usual in Japan, with a sense of nationalism (good luck to foreign employees).
@Sean Chang, you got it.
The "Buddhist monk" is more known in Japan as the founder of a company, Kyocera (ceramics and electronics). Old-fashioned, traditional, from the most conservative city.
The "philosophy" inspired by Buddhist values is thus irrefutable. It's all about giving up your needs, but it's only valid from employee to employer in real life, not the other way around.
J'aime
4:10 song title?
Go JAL! Well done Mr Inamori.
15:23
"simply lacked the practical experience required to deal with sudden turbulence"
u dont need experience to fire 30% of ur workforce and make the remaining workforce take a 30% salary cut as well as cuts to their pension
Malaysia airlines is trying to pull off the same feat.. but with little or no sign of success so far
The overly dramatic music doesn't fit the boring blandness of the storyline. It's more fitting of an airplane in desperate trouble about to crash.
nice documetary
How can an airline accumulate so much debt? IT seems surreal...
Airplanes, fuel and maintenance aren't cheap 😂
Right? I'm just surprised that they kept receiving loans.
@@joeg5414 Kinda irrelevant to the discussion. Cost does not justify that much debt.
*All Nippon Airways* : *luaghs*
laughs*?
I get what you mean by All Nippon Airways
-All *Nipple* Airways
일본 항공기만 보면 일본 공항에서 로이스 초콜릿 사다가 늦어서 미친듯이 뛰었던 기억이 끔찍해 다시생각해도
I have been on that plane before even know I’m english
people always think linear. Thats our main weakeness
But the profit of JAL appears dropping since year 2014
Flew JAL twice about 10-12 years ago. Maybe things have changed since then:
Aircraft condition - average. Seating space - average.
Flight attendants - cute & efficient.
Food - BAD (especially if you are a vegetarian .. still have memories of the over-bland soba noodles).
Baggage handling -- good.
its all about maintaining the profit margin while minimizing incompetence losses and liabilities. thats how corporations survive. the should also lobby the governments and maintain good standing on legal issues and spying.
You know your doomed when only your country men use ur service ...learn to diversify your passenger
years of plenty you waste. Years of famine you suffer.
I thought ANA was Japan's flagship airline
ANA is now the largest Japanese carrier, but it used to be JAL.
hes an intj of course hes talented.
ANA is a great company too
Thet was one of the problems also
Similarly Air India should be privatised. Government putting tax payers’ money since forever to bail out is not working.
Ashwani Mishra Yeah it would help to make the airline actually competitive again.
JAL is way inferior compared to ANA, just like how Asiana is better compared to Korean Airlines
pew pew No, I think ANA is better than JAL (especially on long-haul flights, e. g. in terms of food and entertainment). I agree that Asiana is better than Korean Air though.
That is what he means. Read again.
Ewe Zu Lin Oh, thanks 🤦🏻♂️ I accidentally thought "inferior" means something like "superior" (I‘m not a native speaker).
Both JAL and ANA are 5 star airlines...
Aaaa the 747, what GOOD times! 😃
whoever did the research for this should be fired unless inaccuracies were the aim...
Could the wise academicians advise on how to save failing companies?
JAL has on average some of the most attractive hostesses,
Japan Airline should remember JAL123 accident and improve safety, service. But they are now forgotten that accident. Less safety, worse service.
Not because of Philippine Airlines(The oldest Asian Airline)Their is no Japan Airlines
They forget to mention why the reason, Japanese prefer to fly ANA because of the tragic JAL Flight 123.
Nothing changed for the better as far as regular employees are concerned. Pay cuts, stricter rules, loss of most perks including most discounts (already not as good as other airlines originally, anyway) and more working hours AND duties, all this in a patronizing bootcamp-like atmosphere. The mentality, strong hierarchy and string-pulling have remained just the same, with favoritism and bullying to export, except that less people are to benefit from the massively unfair management. Seeing this, some of the previously more zealous employees lost their trust and motivation in the company along with their previous sense of privilege and pride. But in Japan, you know, duties get done anyway in a stoical and generally graceful manner, for fear of reprisals. However you'd be hard pressed to find an employee who genuinely prefers the company now vs before. It was never good but it's just worse for the workforce (as is sadly the case everywhere else).
Japan Airlines never fully recovered since JAL flight 123... Very sad.
Private company goes bankrupt - blame its’ erstwhile state ownership. Neoliberal nonsense. A well managed firm is successful and profitable regardless of who previously owned or currently owns it, Air NZ a case in point. Governments frequently bail out private firms, and it isn’t because the private sector is incompetent, but that the culture in that particular firm was poor.
They should hired Michael o Leary from ryanair