Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA) will revise the size of its freighter operations in response to the business improvement order received from Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation and Tourism (MLIT) in July.
In response to the improvement order, issued following discrepancies in the maintenance logs for one of its freighter aircraft, NCA says it is considering reducing its fleet by three aircraft, operating only the B747-8F model in future.
HLPFI readers will recall that the MLIT investigation uncovered several violations of the Civil Aeronautics Law of Japan, including inappropriate maintenance for the aircraft structure; organised manipulation and concealment of corresponding maintenance records and a report delay to the MLIT.
NCA has cited insufficient personnel and increased business volume as two of the factors that led to the violations.
According to NCA, the number of aircraft operated was approximately 1.6 times higher in the 2016 financial year than in the 2011 financial year, while the number of personnel in the maintenance division only increased slightly, becoming increasingly insufficient compared to the number of flight operations.
Other preventative measures include strengthening its maintenance staff department and operation division with personnel from All Nippon Airways (ANA) as well as implementing training on safety and compliance awareness.
www.nca.aero
