J-Bird Trijets: JAL's MD-11s

For many years Japan Air Lines was a closed shop in terms of aircraft purchasing and engines. Douglas or Boeing for the former and Pratt & Whitney for the latter. Indeed they were one of only a handful of airlines to equip their DC-10s with Pratts. So a late 80s competition for new aircraft was always likely to go to the USA, however Airbus were close runners up and in hindsight would have perhaps been the better option.

Japan Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-11 JA8581 Dragon Wings 1:400 Scale Model Airliner

Since the 1950s Japan has had a mutually dependent relationship with US aircraft manufacturers. Japanese airlines bought US aircraft and gradually Boeing, Lockheed and McDonnell Douglas built relationships with Japanese aerospace firms like Mitsubishi Heavy Industries who supply many of the aircraft's components. This is reinforced naturally by the Japanese tendency to build long term relationships based heavily upon loyalty and obligation. In this atmosphere it is no surprise that it wasn't until 2013 that Japan Airlines broke its reliance on US aircraft and purchased A350s. However this wasn't the first time that Airbus had competed for a JAL order.

JA8586

In 1987 Japan Air Lines was privatised and ordering huge fleets of new Boeing aircraft. In fact the orderbook stretched to include no less than 74 Boeing 747-400s. At the time JAL had just taken the drastic step of breaking one of its long term relationships by foregoing the use of Pratt & Whitney engines to power the new jumbos. JAL had had a sole supplier relationship with P&W for engines for years, but supply chain issues eventually forced it to switch to General Electric instead. This was a major break for JAL though not as major as having chosen Rolls-Royce would have been.

Japan Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-11 JA8581 Dragon Wings 1:400 Scale Model Airliner

In this environment of growth and change at JAL Airbus no doubt sensed an opportunity and went up against McDonnell Douglas' MD-11 with its, at the time paper aeroplane, the A330. The MD-11 was to be the first of the new generation large widebodies into service and JAL was looking for a replacement for its 16 Dc-10-40s to be delivered between 1993 and 1998. The competition was tough with the performance of the Airbus plane no doubt up against JAL's strong loyalty to the USA and its unproven status. In the end the outcome was as expected and in March 1990 Japan Air Lines ordered 10 MD-11s with 10 further options.

JA8586

'We are overjoyed they will buy our planes,' said Yasutoshi Msuzawa, president of McDonnell Douglas Japan as you'd expect. It does however seem they were lucky. JAL's operations managers preferred the Airbus and it was a last minute decision to instead stick with tradition and remain loyal to the US supplier - one that they would probably come to regret. JAL's then president Susumu Yamaji wrote an apologetic letter to Airbus saying “It was one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make”.

The MD-11 struggled for sales off the back of failing to meet its performance guarantees and strong competition from the newer twinjet designs that gradually came onto the market. It is telling that when JAL was looking for further aircraft in the same size range only the next year that they ordered 10 777-200s with 10 further options. This was November 1991 with the Boeing twinjet not available at the time of the MD-11 order. Bizarrely for this order Airbus wasn't even asked to bid.

Nonetheless JAL remained committed to the MD-11s and in July 1991, showing that again it was beholden to its past relationships reverted back to Pratt & Whitney to provide the engines for the new trijets, in the form of PW4460s. The first MD-11 joined the JAL fleet on May 11, 1993 registered JA8580. Only two of JAL's MD-11s were actually purchased with the other 8 being leased from various sources. The ten options for the type were dropped and the MD-11 deliveries stretched into April 1997 when the tenth and final frame (JA8589) arrived. Interestingly the MD-11s (and 767s) did not replace the DC-10 fleet which continued in service and even grew to 20, with aircraft returned from Japan Asia Airways, in 1997.

Left: A JAL phonecard

Despite any misgivings JAL was keen to show off its new MD-11s, which each gained its own individual identity based upon Japan's native fauna. The J-Birds, as they were known, were named after a Japanese bird and had a visual representation of the bird painted onto their large wingtips. JA8581 as shown with this Dragon model was named after the Fairy Pitta a small colourful bird of dense undergrowth. Here is the full list:

JA8580 - Tufted Puffin
JA8581 - Fairy Pitta
JA8582 - Red-Crowned Crane
JA8583 - Golden Eagle
JA8584 - Okinawa Rail
JA8585 - Hodgson's Hawk Eagle
JA8586 - White Stork
JA8587 - Pryer's Woodpecker
JA8588 - White Tailed Sea Eagle
JA8589 - Rock Ptarmigan

The MD-11 had a short and undistinguished career in passenger service and most airlines sold on their aircraft quite quickly for conversion into freighters, which the MD-11 to its credit was perfect for. The trijet layout was just not as efficient as the twinjets whilst performance problems were never entirely solved and the aircraft suffered a poor reputation for handling on landing. It was only 3 years after last delivery that JAL annuounced, in November 2000, a deal with Boeing to replace the 230-300 seater MD-11s with 8 777-200ERs seating 300-350 and 2 767-300Ers seating 240. The deal involved trading in the MD-11s to Boeing for freighter conversion and meant that JAL had to buy out the leases of the 8 non-owned aircraft.

JA8585

The MD-11s began to leave the fleet in August 2002 and only one frame, JA8582, would survive to wear the new "Arc of the Sun" livery. This aircraft performed its last revenue service on October 12, 2004 flying from Hong Kong to Tokyo Narita. All of the aircraft would join UPS with whom they still serve. In a twist of fate the decision to replace JAL's DC-10s wasn't taken until June 2001, again with further 767s and 777s. This was probably a reflection of the value of the MD-11s on the seconds market rather than a statement of them vis a vis the DC-10s. This did however mean that rather perversly the DC-10 survived in the JAL fleet for longer than the younger MD-11s, indeed the last DC-10 (JA8541) didn't fly its last service (Seoul-Tokyo) until October 31, 2005.

JA8582 in the 'Arc of the Sun' scheme

The MD-11 was a beautiful aircraft but not the right choice for JAL and it is interesting to think whether A330s would still be in JAL service today if the order had gone the other way. Nevertheless the J-Birds looked the part and helped JAL into the 2000s.

References

Aircraft detail: MD-11. Japan Airlines
Japan Airlines history timeline. Japan Airlines
1990. JAL picks McDonnell Douglas over Airbus. UPI Archives
1991. JAL Chooses Pratt & Whitney for MD-11s. Chicago Tribune
1991. Boeing adds JAL to 777 customers. Flight Global
2001. JAL takes giant step in fleet renewal. Flight Global
2013. JAL's Airbus deal good for Japan. Orient Aviation.com