ANA Reorganizes Leadership, Strengthens Int'l Service

While a major shakeup at All Nippon Airlines has caused the company's three top executives and nearly one-third of its board of directors to step down, the airline is holding steady on its expansion course.

The Japanese carrier, the world's seventh largest airline, continues to grow its international service and plans to install a new president on June 27.

The problems began with the resignation of former president Seiji Fukatsu, who reportedly was ousted by the company's honorary chairman. "The reason for the other resignations was internal dissension over a new board of directors and the role of the unions," said spokesperson Tom Fredo. "The whole thing doesn't mean much for ANA's passengers. It was an internal squabble that was made public, something that doesn't happen very often in Japan."

Kichisaburo Nomura, the new president selected by the board of directors, currently is senior managing director and general manager/eastern Japan in charge of the Tokyo sales office. His nomination, as well as the rest of the board of directors, is expected to be approved by the company's shareholders at their biannual meeting June 27. He will assume his new position the next day. Rarely do Japanese shareholders challenge decisions made by a corporate board of directors.

Meanwhile, ANA is placing greater emphasis on international service.

"ANA's management struggles had nothing to do with the general direction of the company. By the end of the year 2001, ANA's goal is for it to be equally an international and domestic carrier," said Fredo. "In order to do this, ANA wants to expand internationally. That's where the growth will come."

Last fiscal year, which ran from April 1, 1996, through March 31, 1997, ANA added ten new international routes. It began service from Osaka to Vancouver, Vienna, Frankfurt, Milan, Rangoon and Bombay; from Nagoya to Honolulu; and from Tokyo to Jakarta, Denpasar and New Delhi.

"Our main interest in expansion is international," Fredo added. "During the next fiscal year, we see only a 2 percent growth rate in the Japanese domestic market, because of saturation, increased bullet train service and a new domestic carrier starting at the end of the year," said Fredo.

"We'd like to expand service to Hong Kong but can't until the new airport opens. Our main interest is the United States," he said. "We're looking at new services from Osaka to various cities in the U.S., especially Honolulu. If the U.S. and Japan amend the air treaty, and it allows us to begin service to the U.S. out of Osaka, we'll begin Osaka-Honolulu flights as soon as we can, this winter if possible. We hope to to achieve parity between the international and domestic services by additional routes to the United States.