Obituary - Susumu Yamaji, Former JAL President and Chairman

Susumu Yamaji, former president and chairman of Japan Airlines, died in Tokyo on Friday May 27th at the age of 80.

After a long and distinguished career in the Ministry of Transport and other Japanese government agencies, Mr. Yamaji joined JAL in July 1985 as an advisor. He was appointed president in December 1985.

In June 1990 he was appointed JAL’s vice-chairman, subsequently becoming chairman in 1991. He retired from the chairmanship in June 1998 but continued to serve as an advisor to the airline.

He was well-known in international air transport industry circles and was a popular speaker at international air transport conferences. He served a term as chairman of the Executive Committee of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Among his other business interests Mr. Yamaji was chairman of the Russia Committee of the Japan Committee for Economic Development (Keizai Doyukai).