Press Release

Tuesday, 21 April 2009:  Almost 100 volunteer staff from oneworld member airlines and the alliance’s central team are in Bangkok this week on the second oneworld employee humanitarian mission.

 

The volunteers - ranging from pilots and flight attendants to marketing executives - are spending five days in the Thai capital, working on a range of children’s charity projects in the city’s Klong Toey area, in association with the local charity the Human Development Foundation.

 

These range from decorating an AIDS hospice for children, establishing vegetable gardens at orphanages, building work on a pre-school for underprivileged toddlers, repairs to a half-way home for street kids and other community services at the Mercy Centre and Home, Romklao School and Lock 6 Pre-School and other community facilities.

 

oneworld’s first humanitarian 18 months ago - when some 50 volunteers worked on a range of charity projects in Johannesburg - was believed to be the first of its kind carried out by any of the global airline alliances anywhere worldwide.

 

This year’s mission is again being led by the Qantas Cabin Crew Team, an organization led by flight attendants at the Australian airline which supports charities around the worldwide network served by the carrier. Around 30 of its members, supported by colleagues from the airline based in Bangkok, will be taking part in this week’s operation.

 

Working alongside them this week will be some 20 representatives from Airline Ambassadors, a counterpart association at American Airlines, and also joined by volunteers from British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Japan Airlines and oneworld’s central alliance team.

 

Besides giving up their time and skills, the volunteers are covering their own costs for the trip and taking time off from their annual vacation allowances. They are paying for materials for the projects they are working on through their on-going fund-raising activities.

 

About Japan Airlines

The JAL Group is Asia’s biggest airline group in terms of sales revenues and 2^nd largest in Asia in terms of passengers carried annually. JAL Group airlines serve 220 airports in 35 countries and territories, including 59 airports in Japan. The international network covers over 250 passenger routes and 28 cargo routes, and the domestic network covers 143 routes.

 

With around 23,000 employees in the air transport segment, JAL Group operates a fleet of some 270 aircraft including Boeing 747s and 777s and is now in the process of a major fleet renewal, introducing more fuel-efficient small and medium aircraft such as the B737 New Generation series and in the future the new high-tech Boeing 787 “Dreamliner”.

 

JAL First Class offers fully reclining Skysleeper or Skysleeper Solo seats. “JAL Executive Class - Seasons,” introduces the concept of “quality time” spent on board and features the award-winning JAL Shell Flat Seat that reclines to almost the horizontal and provides a high degree of personal privacy. From December 2007 JAL started offering JAL Premium Economy on key business routes, and from August 2008 started introducing on US routes a luxurious new suite to JAL First Class and the JAL Shell Flat NEO, a leading-edge seat for JAL Executive Class.

 

Top quality in-flight service has always been the hallmark of JAL’s reputation. Cuisine offered in all classes is a combination of Western and Japanese food. JAL carries a fine selection of award-winning wines and sake in First Class and JAL Executive Class - Seasons, JAL’s business class. Quality in-flight entertainment systems are a feature of JAL’s international fleet aircraft.

 

A member of the oneworld global alliance since April 2007, JAL offers customers many benefits, such as the JAL Mileage Bank frequent flier program.

 

About oneworld

oneworld brings together some of the best and biggest names in the airline business - American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Mal騅 Hungarian Airlines, Qantas and Royal Jordanian, and around 20 affiliates including American Eagle, Dragonair, LAN Argentina, LAN Ecuador and LAN Peru.  Mexicana and its affiliate Click Mexicana will join the alliance in 2009. 

 

Between them, these airlines:

・Serve almost 700 airports in nearly 150 countries, with some 9,000 daily departures.

・Offer nearly 550 airport lounges for premium customers.

・Carry some 320 million passengers a year.

・Employ 250,000 people.

・Operate almost 2,500 aircraft.

・Generate more than US$100 billion annual revenues.

                                                                                                                                                              

 

It is the only alliance with any airlines based in Australia, South America or Asia’s Middle East.

 

The alliance enables its members to offer their customers more services and benefits than any airline can provide on its own.  These include a broader route network, opportunities to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles and points across the combined oneworld network and more airport lounges.   oneworld also offers more alliance fares than any of its competitors.

 

 

oneworld BKK volunteer.pdf