About
Japan Airlines Corporation was founded on October 2, 2002 with Haruka Nishimatsu as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Its activities include:
- Scheduled and non-scheduled air transport service;
- Aircraft maintenance services; and
- Control and administration of the air transport and aircraft maintenance activities of affiliated companies for which it acts as a holding company.
The company's corporate policy includes:
- To pursue the world's top quality in airline safety and reliability;
- To maximize returns to all stakeholders and thereby enhance corporate value;
- To improve consumer service;
- To be a good corporate citizen, transparent in business and a contributor to society;
- To establish a corporate climate based on ability and challenge.
The JAL Group is aware of its responsibilities to society as an air transport business and, as a result of its corporate philosophy of contributing to world peace and prosperity, has long been involved in numerous social activities. The JAL Group believes that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) will become increasingly important and is supported in this conviction by the volunteer activity of its employees; together, the JAL Group and its employees use the corporation's unique characteristics and strengths to work together with society.
In October 2002, JAL established a Basic Environmental Policy along with its Environmental Action Guidelines. In its capacity as a transport organization, the JAL Group exerts an impact on the environment in such ways as consuming fossil fuels and emitting noise. The JAL Groups recognizes that dealing with the environment is a vital management issue, and its aim is one of symbiosis with the global environment while striving to reduce the environmental burden resulting from all its business activities.
Environmental Action Guidelines
- To comply with environmental laws and regulations and engage in environment-protection activities;
- To promote the efficient use of various energy sources and resources;
- To promote waste reduction and proper waste disposal and recycling;
- To select environment-friendly products and materials, including aircraft; and
- To enhance environmental awareness and make social contributions.
Strategy
Environmental Activities of Japan Airlines
JAL recognizes that it impacts the global environment by consuming fossil fuels and emitting noise, in the course of fulfilling its mission as a supplier of public transport. JAL has made it one of its corporate missions to undertake various initiatives to promote environmental protection, aiming for symbiosis with the environment through all of its business activities.
The following are measures undertaken by JAL to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions:
Fossil fuels emit CO2 during aircraft operation; currently, they are the only energy source for commercial aircraft. However, bio-fuel is being developed as a more environmentally-friendly and sustainable substitute for finite fossil fuels. Bio-fuel is made from plant-based feedstocks which absorb CO2 as they grow and therefore contribute much less CO2 over the course of their entire life cycle, as compared to fossil fuels. In January 2009, in cooperation with an aircraft manufacturer, an engine manufacturer, and other companies, JAL became the first airline in Asia to successfully conduct a biofuel demonstration flight using a Boeing 747 aircraft.
In addition to the above fundamental efforts, JAL is implementing some unique environmental and social activities such as tropospheric observations that measure the density of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere during a regular flight and spotting of wildfires in Siberia and Alaska from the sky and reporting them. Furthermore, an environmental education program called "Sora-iku" or "Sky-education" is conducted by JAL captains to elementary school students.
Tropospheric Observation
Since 1993, JAL has been collecting air samples over the route between Australia and Japan using two aircraft twice a month. With these air samples collected by JAL, the Japanese Meteorological Research Institute has conducted concentration analyses of greenhouse gases such as CO2 and methane (hereafter CH4). As a result of their analyses, their findings indicated, first, that CO2 emitted at the ground level rises through the sky and reaches the upper atmosphere; and, second, that CO2 emitted on the middle latitude belt of the northern hemisphere then moves towards the southern hemisphere.
Automatic Air Sampling Equipment
CO2 Concentration has Increased both in Northern and Southern Hemispheres from 1993 to 2008
Since the project's inception in 2003, the Japanese National Institute for Environmental Studies and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (hereafter JAXA) have also joined this study. This collaboration developed a new device that can analyze and automatically record CO2 concentration at 10 to 60 second intervals. This device is installed on five JAL aircraft, and sample-taking was expanded in 
November 2005 to include European, US, and Asian routes, in addition to Australia. As a result, a large volume of data regarding CO2 concentration along routes operated by JAL has been compiled and will be useful both in clarifying the mechanism of the climate changes and in helping to predict such mechanisms. The above data is also planned to be used for the performance validation of the Japanese satellite "Ibuki," launched for the purpose of green house gas measurements in January 2009.
Continuous CO2 Measuring Equipment
Wildfire Reporting
Wildfire reporting, which started in 2003, was originally requested by Hokkaido University, which is part of an international research team that aims to control boreal wildfires, such as in Siberia. Wildfires worsen global warming by emitting large amounts of CO2, such as in the coniferous forest belt of Siberia, and also melts the permafrost layer on the surface of the earth, discharging CH4, a greenhouse gas that is much more damaging than CO2. Therefore, in order to detect the occurrence of a wildfire and to prevent spreading at an early stage, the team is expanding its research by using imaging information from a space satellite. However, discrepancies in the data are common because of inaccuracies in the satellite imaging.
As an alternative, the team relies on the use of visual data by JAL pilots to improve the accuracy of fire detection. When JAL pilots find wildfire, they input the approximate position of the fire and other data, such as dimensions, into the computer on the flight deck. The data is then sent, via the JAL headquarters in Tokyo, to JAXA. This information has supported the research from Hokkaido University since 2007. Alaska and Kalimantan, Indonesia were also added to applicable observation regions in 2007. By the end of the summer of 2009, data about more than 900 wildfires had been reported.
Sora-iku Education Program
"Sora-iku", which means "Sky-education" in Japanese, is an environmental education program that JAL launched in 2007. In this program, JAL pilots visit elementary schools and educate the children about the condition of the Earth as seen from the sky and also share with them the environmental preservation efforts by JAL. During the fiscal year of 2008, 46 classes were given in various cities in Japan and China with more than 10,000 students participating in the classes.
“Sora-iku at Hakodate Japan
Conclusion
JAL recognizes that dealing with the environment is a vital management issue and continues to make every effort for environmental activities. Most of the environmental load of JAL comes from the consumption of aviation fuel, which is unavoidable as part of the air transport business. However, JAL of course recognizes the need to strengthen efforts to reduce CO2 emissions steadily, and is also willing to fulfill its social responsibilities through various activities to protect the global environment.
Photo Gallery
[ Back to Top ]