‘JAL keeping options open’

Japan Airlines is leaving open the possibility that the carrier might continue providing service between Japan and Saipan.

According to the Governor’s Office, JAL president and chief executive officer Toshiyuki Shinmachi told Gov. Juan N. Babauta yesterday that the airline has not yet decided to end regularly scheduled flights to Saipan.

“Shinmachi said a final decision on scheduled flights would come in July, but that, at a minimum, JAL would continue charter service to the Northern Marianas,” the Governor’s Office said in a news statement.

Babauta left for Tokyo on Tuesday along with a delegation of business leaders and government officials to see if the airline could be persuaded to keep serving the Northern Marianas.

Aside from the JAL president, the CNMI officials are also scheduled to meet with officials of the Japanese government and Northwest Airlines during their three-day stay in Japan.

During his meeting with Shinmachi, the governor reportedly thanked the JAL executive for the airline’s 28 years of service to the CNMI, and explained how serious the impact would be, if the company ended its Saipan flights.

“The governor asked that JAL consider alternatives to an immediate pullout, including delaying any action for six to 12 months or cutting back on only one route,” reads a portion of the news statement.

The Governor’s Office also reported that both the Marianas Visitors Authority and the Commonwealth Ports Authority are now preparing packages of financial incentives for airlines that bring tourists to the Northern Marianas.

MVA vice chair Marian Aldan-Pierce and CPA chair Joe Lifoifoi are both part of the CNMI delegation currently in Tokyo.

For his part, Shinmachi reportedly took note of the many years of promotional support that the CNMI had provided JAL.

The Governor’s Office also quoted Shinmachi as saying that, even if scheduled flights were temporarily curtailed, the company would continue to assess the profitability of the Saipan route and could return.

The Japan trip was organized immediately amid reports that JAL would be suspending all its flights to Saipan beginning October, due to high operational costs and low profitability.

The air carrier is expected to make a formal announcement about its plans in July.

Currently, JAL provides seven weekly DC10 flights between Narita and Saipan and seven weekly Boeing 767 flights from Kansai to Saipan.

The airline is also widely expected to cut service to Honolulu, Guam, Bali, Ho Chi Minh City, and other international destinations because of the company’s financial difficulties.