Japan Air System

Japan Air System (JAS), later known as Japan Airlines Domestic from 2004, was the smallest of the big three Japanese airlines. In contrast to the other two, JAL and ANA, JAS' international route network was very small, but its domestic network incorporated many smaller airports that were not served by the two larger airlines. As an independent company, it was last headquartered in the JAS M1 Building at Haneda Airport in Ōta, Tokyo. It has since merged with Japan Airlines.

JAS was famous for its variety of aircraft liveries; Amy Chavez of The Japan Times described the rainbow liveries as "abstract." Many of its color schemes in the 1990s were designed by film director Akira Kurosawa.

The airline's slogan was "Good Speed Always".

History

thumb|left|A [[NAMC YS-11 operating under the former name Toa Domestic.]]

Formation

The company was originally formed as (TDA) in a merger between Toa Airways and Japan Domestic Airlines on May 15, 1971. It adopted the Japan Air System (JAS) name on April 1, 1988. In 1995 the airline had 99 domestic routes, some international routes, 64 offices in Japan, one office in Seoul, South Korea, and one office in Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.

Boeing 777 livery design contest

thumb|13-year old Masatomo Watanabe designed the livery of the JAS [[Boeing 777-200]]

In 1996, Japan Air System held a contest for designing the livery of the Boeing 777. The youngest entrant was three years of age while the oldest was 84. A total of 10,364 participants from 42 countries submitted entries. The judges included Akira Kurosawa, Masuo Ikeda, Kenshi Hirokane, Yoshiko Sakurai, and . The Japan Air System Boeing 777, painted in Watanabe's design, premiered in April 1997 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Japan Air System.

Merger with Japan Airlines

thumb|left|A Japan Air System [[Airbus A300-600R with the JAL "Arc of the Sun" logo on the body]]

JAS and Japan Airlines announced their merger in November 2001. It was the first major airline industry realignment in Japan in three decades, and partly a consequence of the slump in worldwide air traffic following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. At the time, JAL had only a 25% share of the Japanese domestic air travel market, half that of rival All Nippon Airways, and saw the merger as a means of providing stronger competition to ANA domestically.

JAS and JAL prepared an integrated timetable in August 2002. On October 2, 2002, they established a new holding company, , with Isao Kaneko as CEO. A new "Arc of the Sun" livery for the JAL group was announced in September 2002 and the first aircraft with the livery rolled out in November. On April 1, 2004, Japan Airlines changed its name to Japan Airlines International and Japan Air System changed its name to , officially ending the JAS brand. Japan Airlines Domestic was merged with Japan Airlines International on October 1, 2006, and disappeared both in name and reality.

At the time of its integration into JAL, JAS operated the Airbus A300, Boeing 777, MD-80 and MD-90. Most continued flying as part of the JAL fleet, but three A300s were scrapped at Sendai Airport in 2002, while two others were transferred to Fly Air in Turkey.

Corporate affairs

thumb|The JAL Maintenance Center, formerly the corporate headquarters

thumb|Mori Building 37 in Tokyo, where JAS once had its headquarters

When Toa Domestic Airlines was originally established on May 15, 1971, its headquarters were located at the Japan Airlines Haneda Maintenance Center (羽田日本航空メンテナンスセンター Haneda Nihon Kōkū Mentanensu Sentā) at Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport) in Ōta, Tokyo. On February 28, 1972, its headquarters were moved to in Minato, Tokyo. On July 31, 1990, the headquarters moved from Mori Building No. 18 to , located in Toranomon. On April 18, 1998, the head office moved to at Haneda Airport. On August 11, 2003, as JAS was being merged into Japan Airlines, the JAS headquarters moved from Haneda Maintenance Center 1 to the JAL Building in Shinagawa, Tokyo.

Destinations before merger

Domestic

Greater Tokyo Area
Osaka
Greater Osaka Area
Kunming – Kunming Wujiaba International Airport
Taichung – Taichung International Airport
Taipei – Chiang Kai-shek International Airport
Honolulu – Daniel K. Inouye International Airport

Subsidiaries

Japan Air System had the following subsidiaries:

Japan Air Commuter
Hokkaido Air System
Harlequin Air

Fleet

thumb|A Japan Air System [[Airbus A300B4 taxiing at Haneda Airport in 1996]]

thumb|JAS MD-90 and 777 aircraft

Japan Air System (later known as Japan Airlines Domestic) had operated the following aircraft prior to merger with Japan Airlines:

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em auto; text-align:center"

|+ Japan Air System fleet

!Aircraft

!Total

!Introduced

!Retired

!Notes

|Airbus A300B2

|1980

|rowspan="3"|2006

|Airbus A300B4

|1986

|Airbus A300-600R

|22

|1998

|McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31

|1973

|1975

|Leased from Hughes Airwest.

|McDonnell Douglas DC-9-41

|22

|1974

|1997

|One written off as Flight 451. <br> Remaining aircraft sold to Airborne Express.

|McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51

|1977

|1978

|Leased from Finnair.

|McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30

|1988

|2000

|Sold to Northwest Airlines.

|McDonnell Douglas MD-81

|26

|1981

|rowspan="3"|2006

Accidents and incidents

July 3, 1971, Toa Domestic Airlines Flight 63: A NAMC YS-11A owned by Toa Domestic Airlines crashed into terrain, killing all 68 occupants.
May 25, 1975: A NAMC YS-11A (JA8680) had a hydraulic oil leak and forced the crew to return to Osaka. During landing, one of the tires blew causing the aircraft to veer off the runway. The aircraft crossed a sod area and a drainage ditch. The cause of the oil leak was a loose connection of the hydraulic line in the left flap well.
April 18, 1993, Japan Air System Flight 451: A McDonnell Douglas DC-9-41, flying from Nagoya to Hanamaki, crashed after the aircraft, caught by wind shear, skidded off of the runway. All of the passengers and crew survived.

thumb|right | Aftermath of the landing gear accident of JAS Flight 979

January 1, 2004, Japan Air System Flight 979: A McDonnell Douglas MD-81 (JA8297) sustained substantial damage in a landing gear accident at Tokunoshima. On landing, the aircraft's left main landing gear collapsed during rollout and its left wing tip contacted the ground. The aircraft came to a stop on the runway. Three passengers were slightly injured.

Special liveries

Japan Air System, for a period, painted a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 in a Peter Pan color scheme.