JAL remains cautious about joining alliance+
TOKYO, June 10 Kyodo - Japan Airlines (JAL), Asia's largest airline, remains cautious about joining a global alliance because of what it sees as the volatile nature of such groupings, JAL's president said in a recent interview with Kyodo News.
Asked about the prospects of JAL participating in the oneworld alliance, led by American Airlines and British Airways, with which JAL closely works, Isao Kaneko said a hasty decision should not be made on the matter.
''We have built bilateral partnerships with 17 overseas carriers. If we join an alliance, it would further expand our route network, but it may also compel us to review our relationship with those carriers that are outside that alliance. Thus, we should not make a hasty decision,'' he said.
''Moreover, the nature of alliances has remained volatile, given that internationally, there are also moves to form groupings by specific areas of activity, such as marketing and product procurement,'' Kaneko said.
Existing airline alliances center on cooperation in the form of so-called codeshares, where partners sell seat and cargo capacity on each other's flights, reciprocal frequent flyer programs and reciprocal access to airline lounges for passengers.
It has been rumored that Tokyo-based JAL, the eighth largest carrier in the world, will join the oneworld alliance, particularly since its lessor Japanese rival, All Nippon Airways (ANA), joined Star Alliance, the biggest global airline grouping, led by Lufthansa German Airlines and United Airlines, in October 1999.
JAL, which operates both passenger and cargo services, has so far opted to form bilateral deals, and its partners cross over existing and yet-to-be established airline groupings.
As of June, JAL's 17 overseas airline partners include five of the eight oneworld carriers, five of the 13 Star Alliance companies, two of the Qualiflier group led by Swissair, and Air France, which will shortly start an alliance with Delta Air Lines and Korean Air.
In its midterm management program covering the three fiscal years through 2002, JAL said it will shortly assess the benefits that bilateral partnerships and global alliances would generate for the company.
Kaneko also indicated that despite some disgruntled travel agents, JAL will continue making use of the Internet and other technology to sell airline tickets.
Some travel agencies are claiming that JAL's recently started air ticket discounts are designed to bypass travel agents, as they are available only for reservations made on JAL's Web site.
''We would like to coexist with travel agents, but as information technology advances, airlines can directly offer their customers a variety of services and grasp demand trends,'' Kaneko said.
''In order to win international competition with U.S. airlines and others, we will continue reinforcing our technological capabilities,'' he said.
On domestic services, Kaneko said JAL will also cooperate with other airlines, and one such area of cooperation will be the shuttle service between Tokyo and Osaka planned jointly by JAL, ANA and Japan Air System.
Currently, the Shinkansen bullet train service is the dominant passenger carrier on this route, which links Japan's two biggest metropolises.
''We will aim at expanding the share of air carriers (on this route) by increasing services offered by the three major carriers and even further tapping demand,'' Kaneko said.
On the progressing reorganization of the JAL group, Kaneko said, ''In the future, JAL itself will be operating trunk domestic routes and key services to Europe and the United States using wide-body aircraft, and will play a role similar to a holding company.''
''Local routes served by small and midsize aircraft, as well as routes to overseas resort destinations will be transferred to affiliated companies,'' he said.
According to 1998 data, JAL is the world's eighth largest airline in terms of revenue ton miles, obtained by multiplying aircraft miles flown by the amount of revenue traffic, both passengers and cargo, measured in tons.