Sunday, April 6, 2014

ANA's Boeing 747 participates in Initiation Ceremony.

All Nippon Airways (NH/ANA) parent ANA Holdings held their Initiation Ceremony for fiscal year 2014 on April 1st at their Aircraft Maintenance Center at Tokyo/Haneda (HND/RJTT). 261 freshmen and 828 freshwomen entering ANA Group's 26 companies participated in the annual ceremony, along with their last 'Jumbo Jet', Boeing 747-481/D JA8961, which retired, or 'graduated' on the day before (End of an Era: ANA retires the Boeing 747.) on March 31st.
Freshpersons pose in front of Boeing 747-481/D JA8961. (Photo: Aviation Wire)

"The airline industry is in the midst of risks and opportunities; foreign carriers are increasing capacity and LCCs are growing, while the Tokyo Olympics/Paralympics are coming up in 2020", ANA Holdings' President and CEO Shinichiro Ito said in his speech. He identified what he calls the 'five pillars' of ANA; strong individuals, a strong organization, a strong company, a strong brand, and a strong group. "It's not a 'we don't do' or 'we can't do', but 'what and how we should do'. It's important to make challenges. Don't be afraid of mistakes", he encouraged the 1,089 freshpersons.
ANA Group's 1,089 new staff pose for a photo with the retired 'Queen of the Skies'. (Photo: Aviation Wire)

At the end of the ceremony, they were given an opportunity to write their resolutions and messages on the retired B747. JA8961 is currently receiving its last maintenance checks prior to its sale to Universal Asset Management and ferry to Tupelo (TUP/KTUP) for part-out and scrapping. Penultimate sister JA8960 left Japan on March 28th and was ferried to the same destination for the same fate.
Freshpersons writing their resolutions on JA8961's belly. (Photo: Aviation Wire)

ANA will conduct a final tour of the 'Jumbo Jet' on April 13th and five-day 'Farewell Boeing 747 America Tour' (ANA announes final Boeing 747 farewell tour.) from April 16th to see the aircraft make its final landing at the Mississippi airport. All tickets have been sold out. JA8961 is planned to leave Japanese soil on April 16th.

Source: Aviation Wire, April 1st. (in Japanese)

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