Japan Airlines Says 787 Grounding Will Cost It $7.5 Million

TOKYO — Japan Airlines said on Monday that the grounding of its dreamliner fleet would cost it 700 million yen, or $7.5 million, in earnings through March and that it would seek compensation from boeing.In making the announcement, Japan Airlines joined other Dreamliner operators, like All Nippon Airways and United Airlines, in raising the possibility of demanding compensation. That adds to Boeing’s woes as it struggles to determine why a battery aboard a parked 787 burst into flames and another emitted smoke while a plane was in the air last month.

After those incidents, regulators around the world grounded all 50 Dreamliners in service. United States and Japanese officials investigating the two cases have not determined what caused the lithium-ion batteries, made by GS Yuasa of Japan, to overheat.
Japan Airlines, which operates seven 787s and has placed orders for 38 more, is trying to get back on track after its emergence from bankruptcy last year and the relisting of its shares, which raised 663 billion yen.

In earnings announced Monday, the airline said net profit fell 3.7 percent, to 140.6 billion yen, in the first three quarters, through December, of its fiscal year. Sales rose 3.6 percent, to 942 billion yen, but were offset by a nearly 5 percent increase in operating costs as fuel prices climbed.

Japan Airlines also said that it would postpone the introduction of service between Helsinki, Finland, and Narita International Airport near Tokyo, originally scheduled to start Feb. 25. The airline cited “necessary adjustments to JAL’s international routes utilizing the Boeing 787 aircraft.”

Still, it raised its full-year profit forecast through March by 16 percent, to 163 billion yen ($1.75 billion), citing strong demand in Europe, the United States and Southeast Asia.

Speaking in Tokyo, Yoshiharu Ueki, president of Japan Airlines, said his company was more focused on doing all it could to help get the 787s safely back in the air. He added that the airline would begin compensation negotiations “once the situation had settled down.”