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By David Parker Brown, on March 21st, 2012 at 9:00 am
 HI RES IMAGE (click for larger). JAL Boeing 787 Dreamliner at Paine Field. Photo by Boeing. Japan Airlines (JAL) announced today that they plan to take official delivery of their first 787 Dreamliner this Sunday, March 25th, with a delivery ceremony to follow on the 26th. The aircraft is then scheduled to take off from Paine Field at about 4pm local time on Monday to head to Narita in Tokyo with JAL pilots at the controls.
The airline plans to start operating their first Dreamliner on their new Boston to Tokyo route, currently scheduled to start on April 22, 2012. JAL has also announced the intention of starting 787 service between San Diego and Tokyo later in the year.
 HI RES IMAGE (click for larger). Executive Class cabin on JAL's first Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Photo by Boeing. JAL becomes the second airline to take delivery of a 787, but this aircraft will represent a few firsts: It will be the first one to be delivered with GEnx engines, the first to be commercially fly a route to the US and the first to be used on a brand new route (ANA’s 787s have replaced other aircraft on routes that already existed).
The first aircraft is configured in a two class layout, with 42 seats in business class and 144 seats in economy.
 HI RES IMAGE (click for larger). The economy cabin inside JAL's first Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Photo by Boeing. The business (or executive) class seats are in a 2-2-2 layout and provide about 60″ of seat pitch and a bit over 21″ of width. The seat will recline to about 171 degrees. The Economy class is configured in a 2-4-2 layout and will provide 31″ seat pitch and 18.5″ seat width.
 HI RES IMAGE (click for larger). JAL's Boeing 787 Dreamliner taking off at Paine Field. Photo by Boeing. JAL’s new in-flight entertainment system, called SKY MANGA, will also debut on the aircraft. The interior has a very different looking atmosphere than ANA’s Dreamliner cabin.
By David Parker Brown, on December 14th, 2011 at 9:50 am
 HI RES IMAGE (click for larger). JAL's first Boeing 787 rolls out of the paint hangar in new livery. Photo by Boeing. From Boeing’s press release: “The first Boeing (NYSE: BA) 787 Dreamliner to enter service for Japan Airlines (JAL) rolled out of the paint hangar last night. The airplane’s livery features the iconic new brand mark on its tail and underscores the airline’s commitment to provide the highest level of service to customers and contribute to the advancement of society. The logo is a distinct symbol of the airline which was the first Japanese carrier to fly internationally from Japan since 1954.”
This is the new livery that JAL first premiered on one of their Boeing 767s back in March 2011 and was shown off in drawings in January 2011. JAL already had multiple 787 Dreamliners painted in their older livery at Paine Field and it was assumed that they would be re-painted in the new livery before delivery.
The resurrection of the crane is to match the airline’s, “new philosophy and corporate policy which underscore the company’s re-commitment to provide the highest levels of service to customers and to raise its corporate value in order to contribute to the advancement of society.”
I have seen the livery in person a few times now on 767s and 737s and I have to say I am still not a huge fan of it. I am okay with simplicity and I realize this is a cultural thing with connecting with the airline’s roots, but give me a swooping cheatline or something. Although it does look better on the 787 vs the other aircraft I have seen.
What do you think of the new JAL livery on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner?
By David Parker Brown, on June 3rd, 2011 at 12:00 pm
 Boeing 787 Dreamliners for ANA, JAL and China Southern sit waiting for parts at Paine Field. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is about to start a new round of testing to prepare for its first customer, All Nippon Airways (ANA), during the third quarter of 2011. During the week of July 4th, the second Dreamliner, ZA002 is expected to start service readiness testing in Japan.
Both companies will help to simulate in-service operations at several airports throughout Japan. ANA’s maintenance crews will also have the ability to service the 787 during the testing, including fit checks for airplane jacks, towing and refueling the aircraft. The testing is expected to take place during the week of July 4th. This will also mark the first time that the 787 has flown to and with-in Japan.
At this point, ANA is expecting their first 787 Dreamliner sometime between August and September. Boeing is not officially talking about who will receive the next few 787s. However, Boeing President Jim McNerney announced that China Southern should receive their first Dreamliner during the fourth quarter this year.
Japan Airlines (JAL) has recently announced they will operate the Boeing 787 Dreamliner on a route from Narita Japan to Boston, starting in April 2012, but a JAL spokes person confirmed to me via email that this will not be the first 787 they will receive. “The first 787 will not be on the [Tokyo to Boston] route, but this route is the first one named by JAL to use the 787.” The spokesperson explained. “We haven’t announced where the first 787 will be deployed to.” JAL hopes to receive their first 787 by the end of 2011 and receive five Dreamliners by the end of the 2011 fiscal year.
It is not exactly clear if China Southern or JAL will receive the second 787, but this timeline suggests that ANA will not be flying the 787 exclusively for very long. With ANA’s pride in being the first customer for the 787 and all their advertising featuring the aircraft and even operating a site dedicated to the aircraft called “ANA We Fly 1st,” I can only imagine that the airline was hoping to be the only airline flying the Dreamliner for a bit longer than a few months at most.
By David Parker Brown, on March 2nd, 2011 at 7:45 am
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The new JAL crane livery outside.
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New crane livery with JAL President and crew
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A Boeing 777-200 (JA0090) sits in the hangar with the Boeing 767 (JA654J)
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Tail of Boeing 767-300ER with crane livery
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Japan Air Line’s new livery on a Boeing 767-300ER. Photo from JAL.
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Cabin crew check out the new Boeing 767 with crane livery.
Japan Air Lines (JAL) has officially unveiled their new crane livery on a Boeing 767-300ER (JA654J) in Tokyo. The plane was flown, unpainted, from Paine Field to JAL’s maintenance center in Tokyo where it was painted in the new livery. The resurrection of the crane is to match the airline’s, “new philosophy and corporate policy which underscore the company’s re-commitment to provide the highest levels of service to customers and to raise its corporate value in order to contribute to the advancement of society.”
The new aircraft will start flying between Haneda and Beijing on March 2, 2011. Before then, it will be flown on a domestic flight between Haneda and Kushiro where Japanese red crowned cranes hang out during the winter.
When I first got a glimpse of the computer generated livery I thought it looked much too plain. In photos I think it looks much better, clean and classy, which I think they are going for. In a time where airline liveries are getting more and more complicated, the simplicity of JALs new crane livery is a nice change. However, I think it is missing something. A swooping cheat-line would really make this livery look complete. What do you think?
Updated: Now sharing six photos, all from JAL.
Here are some other photos:
* Photo of the plane being towed on Airliners.net
* A mock up of the livery on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner
By David Parker Brown, on January 22nd, 2011 at 6:00 am
 Really? This is the best they can do? So much white and a little too simple for my tastes. This is JAL's next livery. This new livery from Japan Airlines (JAL) is a bit of a shocker to me. Earlier in the week, I started to see people talking on the web about JAL changing their livery and adding the historic crane back. I have actually like JAL’s current livery and was surprised to see them announcing a new one already. Then I started to see the drawings of what the new livery was supposed to look like.
At first I thought, “no way, what person did this mock up and showing it around the web?” It almost looked like someone made a custom livery on their home computer. So, I headed to the source and JAL’s press page. Holy smokes, they have the same mock up of the new livery. I am a little shocked that the mock up isn’t a little more professionally done, but I guess at least it gives us a good idea what it will look like.
At first I thought this livery was a horrid idea. Going from a pretty trendy looking livery with a nice cream-colored base to bleach white with just a crane and black titles. After some time looking at it, I don’t know what to think — I might have to wait until seeing it in person. It seems like it is very, very plain, but it might have a good enough retro feel to work. I think a clean red cheat-line might have brought it all together with a little update to the crane.
It seems a little odd to me that the company would be spending so much on a re-branding during a financially difficult time, but they are hoping it to celebrate the changes. The new livery will first be seen on a Boeing 767-300ER and I will for sure be looking for her in person to see how it turns out.
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