The
airline was established on October 5, 1990, as Japan Air Charter Co., Ltd. (JAZ), an 80 percent-owned low-cost
charter subsidiary of
Japan Airlines (JAL), to operate leisure flights to
Asia-Pacific resort destinations from regional airports in
Japan; in response to a
Ministry of Transport policy. JAZ obtained its aircraft from JAL; its
cockpit crews were
American contract
pilots based in
Hawaii and its
cabin crews were hired and based in
Bangkok, where it operates a cabin-crew training centre. JAZ obtained license to operate non-scheduled services on February 22, 1991, and operated its first charter flight from
Fukuoka to
Honolulu with a
McDonnell Douglas DC-10 on July 1. The airline celebrated its 100,000th
passenger on July 9, 1993, in a ceremony held in
Sendai. During the 1990s, JAL was hit by the effects of Japan's
recession, increased foreign competition and the strengthening of the
Japanese yen. JAZ was given a new role to help reduce costs. The airline obtained the license to operate scheduled services on July 30, 1999, and would operate as a scheduled carrier on a
wet-lease basis for JAL. It would operate on high-density low-yield tourist routes in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly the Japan–Hawaii services; with a fleet of four McDonnell Douglas DC-10s and five
Boeing 747s. On October 1, the airline changed its name to JALways Co., Ltd. and operated its first scheduled passenger service from Tokyo to
Kona and Honolulu. The airline introduced new uniforms for its cabin crew on April 1, 2005, and retired its last McDonnell Douglas DC-10 on October 31. As part of the JAL Medium Term Corporate Plan for 2005–2007, announced on March 10, 2005, the JAL Group accelerated the retirement of older Boeing 747 aircraft. The airline operated its last
Boeing 747-300 Classic Jumbo Jet as JALways Flight 73 from Honolulu to Tokyo on July 30, 2009; after 26 years of service to the airline group. The aircraft was draped in a giant
Hawaiian lei before departure at
Honolulu International Airport; and the day was declared as "Japan Airlines Classic Jumbo Jet Day" by the
State of Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle and
Lt. Governor Duke Aiona The aircraft was met on arrival in Tokyo by the "Father of the 747",
Mr Joseph F. "Joe" Sutter. A sell-out commemorative flight flew fans of the Boeing 747-300
Classic Jumbo Jet from Tokyo (Haneda) to Shimojishima on a round-trip day tour on July 5, 2009. In May 2009, it was reported that the airline terminated the assignments of 130 American contract
Hawaii-based
Boeing 747 pilots and closed its
Oahu office. Japan-based JAL cockpit crew now operates the five daily flights previously operated by the JALways crew. == Corporate affairs ==