Airline Union criticizes government for using civil aircraft to transport SDF

Union member pilots and flight attendants have criticized the Defense Agency for having chartered civil aircraft to transport the Self Defense Forces personnels to East Timor for Peace-Keeping Operations (PKO).

The Japan Federation of Aviation Worker's Unions (JFAU) issued a statement on April 16 which said that the Defense Agency twice used chartered flights of Japan Airlines (JAL), on March 22 and April 10 this year, to send SDF troops from Hokkaido to Bali Island, where Indonesian aircraft was awaiting to take them to East Timor.

Using civil aircraft for any military or police operations is against the Convention on International Civil Aviation, JFAU said.

Akahata of April 17 reported that the U.S. Department of Defense has been requesting JAL, All Nippon Airways (ANA), and Japan Air System (JAS) to get the official permit called Safety Audit from the Pentagon to be able to undertake U.S. military-related transportation.

Since it became a big social issue in 1997, when ANA transported the U.S. Marines and ammunition from Okinawa to Yokota in Tokyo, the Japanese airlines stopped accepting any similar requests from the government until recently. (end)