Japan Airlines Says North America Is Crucial To Its Success

At a recent conference, the

Japan Airlines

Regional Vice-President of Global Sales for the Americas, Steve Myer, attributed part of the carrier’s success to its North American operations. He also noted that expansion should be expected with the introduction of additional new aircraft, including the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787.

North America is “really critical”

The comments came at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Americas 2024 on Friday. Myer said:

“North America is quite critical… Our role in North America is really critical to the success of the airline. Bringing on more A350-900s, as well as neos, 787-9s – those especially will help us. I would expect in the future that the Americas will play a role with those aircraft.”

Photo: Viper-Zero | Shutterstock

His words come as the carrier continues its expansion in the region, adding capacity to flights to Vancouver, New York, and San Diego and the recent launch of A350 services to Dallas. Some of the carrier’s more significant recent changes in the region are listed below, per Aeroroutes:

Business travel not fully recovered

An essential part of Japan Airlines’ operation in North America is business travel, which it says has not entirely recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

According to Myer, this is due to the foreign exchange rate, which is “really making it prohibitive for people to come [to North America]… Japan’s foreign investment in the US is still unmatched and I think we’ll continue to have a strong corporate demand, it’s just not back yet.”

Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock

Myer said there are key differences between North American and Japanese demand for business travel.

“There’s two sides to the corporate recovery – North America is starting to come back to some previous levels… But then if you look out of Japan, it’s still much, much lower”.

A growing fleet of widebodies

In March, Japan Airlines placed an order for 21 Airbus A350-900s, 11 A321-200neos, and 10 Boeing 787-9s as part of an order that would provide the potential for expansion and renewal on the international front.

Photo: KITTIKUN YOKSAP | Shutterstock

Japan Airlines has previously used the Airbus A350-900s primarily for domestic services but expects to use the newly ordered examples for long-haul flights, per Myer’s comments.

At the time of the order, the airline had said that the planes would “enhance and expand the capacity of its international operations, with a primary focus on regions such as North America, Asia, and India where future growth is expected.”

In addition, the carrier stated:

“These aircraft will be strategically deployed on routes that align with demand, including to and from Haneda Airport, starting from 2028. Furthermore, Japan Airlines has decided to introduce one additional A350-900 in a domestic configuration as a replacement for the A350-900 that was lost in January 2024.”

The plane lost at the start of the year was involved in a collision with another aircraft at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.

Have you flown with Japan Airlines before? Let us know in the comments below.