JAL Management Not Legally Liable

Sep 1, 2010
By Frank Jackman
On the day ailing Japan Airlines filed its proposed reorganization plan in Tokyo’s District Court, the trustee overseeing JAL’s restructuring said there are no grounds to demand compensatory damages from the carrier’s former managers.

In March, the trustee, the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. of Japan (ETIC), appointed a five-member Compliance Investigation Committee to look into the reasons why Japan Airlines Corp., Japan Airlines International Co. and JAL Capital Co. became insolvent, as well as material past compliance problems and other managerial concerns. According to an ETIC statement issued Aug. 31, “The committee came to the conclusion that while there are problems in managerial judgment and corporate governance … it would be difficult to find former managers legally liable under criminal or civil laws.”