JAL Strengthens Management of Overseas Aircraft Maintenance

Japan Airlines is strengthening overseas aircraft maintenance management through a reorganization of its maintenance division. The new overseas aircraft maintenance management department will have 25 expert staff and will be established within the maintenance division. The new department will be generally responsible for the management of outsourced maintenance carried out for JAL overseas.

The new overseas aircraft maintenance management department will manage contracts, technology, quality control, training and parts inventories that up to now have been handled by JAL’s Haneda Airport-based maintenance and engineering business department.

As part of the new reorganization JAL will increase the number of permanently assigned JAL staff from one to four at both the overseas maintenance centers of Taikoo Aircraft Engineering Company (TAECO) in Amoy, China and Singapore Aviation Service Company (SASCO), Singapore, currently used by the airline.

JAL is an investor in both of these overseas maintenance centers, which are both certified by the technical branch of the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) of the Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport as well as by other government aviation agencies worldwide. The two facilities carry out heavy airframe maintenance and conversion work not only for JAL but also for many major airlines from the Asia Pacific region. JAL usually sends a team of 10 inspectors to check each aircraft before delivery to the airline after an overhaul. JAL executives are on the board of each company to supervise general quality control.

Singapore Aviation Service Company (SASCO) opened in July 1990. (JAL has a 10% shareholding). The first JAL aircraft overhaul at SASCO was completed in April 1991 and to date SASCO has handled about 900 aircraft overhauls including 73 for JAL. TAECO (Taikoo Aircraft Engineering Company) started operations in January 1996 and has since handled 600 overhauls including about 70 JAL aircraft.. JAL has a shareholding of 9.09%. Other shareholders include HAECO, Cathay Pacific Airways, a CAAC subsidiary, Xiamen Aviation Industry Co. and the Boeing Group.

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