VOX POPULI: JAL bailout has taxpayers holding their breath

When the world's first jumbo jet, the Boeing 747, was introduced, engineers who worked on its development were not concerned about its ability to take off or cruising speed, but its landing. This was because of skepticism among aviation experts about whether such a giant machine could safely land.

Joe Sutter, chief engineer for the development of the jumbo jet at Boeing, gives an account to the following effect in his autobiography (translated by Chieko Hori): Just as it made a descent toward the runway like a stately ocean liner, it quietly glided and made a spectacular landing. Now that we have a true aircraft, it looks like success is no longer a pipe dream.

Thursday marks the 40th anniversary of the aircraft that popularized air travel. The biggest customer of the long-selling passenger jet was Japan Airlines Corp.

JAL has since entered legal liquidation. As part of its restructuring program, I heard that the airline will decommission all of its 37 gas-guzzling jumbo jets. I feel it signifies the end of an era.

Commentator Makoto Sataka had harsh words for JAL, describing it as "a company that combines the bad parts of government offices and private companies." It was not only easily affected by politics but was suffering from a malady common to big corporations. The purchase of so many jumbo jets must also have had something to do with political considerations for the United States. Public funds will again have to be injected to save the ailing company. But the responsibility of politicians who recklessly built more airports than necessary and bureaucrats who landed cushy jobs with related companies goes unquestioned.

According to Mikio Taguchi (1940-2005), a former JAL pilot who flew jumbo jets for years, taking off is more difficult than landing.

Fully fueled, the aircraft weighs 400 tons.

Only when everything is perfect, from maintenance to flying, does the aircraft leave the ground, Taguchi wrote in his book "Kicho no Nanahyaku-man Mairu" (A captain's 7 million miles).

JAL made an emergency landing at an airport called state control and unloaded itself in the hangar of the Corporate Rehabilitation Law.

Similar to the team of engineers who developed the jumbo jet, who held their breath when the first plane landed, taxpayers must keep a strict eye on JAL until it takes off again.

No matter what the weather, it must make a steady flight this time.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 20

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.