Yasune Takagi
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He joined Dai Nippon Airways in April 1940, left when it was dissolved in 1945, and joined Japan Airlines in August 1951. He became Senior Managing Director in 1969 and Executive Vice President in 1971, spending ten years in that post. Whereas his predecessor Shizuo Asada was a former official who came in as Senior Managing Director in 1963 after serving as Vice-Minister of Transport, Takagi was a career employee who had joined in the company's founding years.
Selection
In June 1981 he succeeded Shizuo Asada, his partner of ten years, as President. In the year before his appointment, the fiscal year ended March 1981, revenue was ¥654.4 billion and ordinary profit ¥4.4 billion. What Japan Airlines asked of the Ministry of Transport in 1979 was not the abolition of the Japan Airlines Company Act but an increase in the number of directors from 18 to 30 and a larger bond issuance limit. The appointment appears to have handed this course, widening management's freedom while keeping licenses and protection intact, to a career employee.
Initiatives
In 1983 the company ranked first in the world in passenger and cargo traffic in IATA statistics. In the same fiscal year ended March 1983, its ordinary loss reached ¥27.093 billion. The interim Japan-US aviation agreement of April 1985 allowed three carriers from each country onto transpacific routes, squarely breaking down the 1970/1972 framework under which Japan Airlines was the sole international scheduled carrier. On the evening of August 12, 1985, the day the board decided on a policy of full privatization, Flight 123 crashed into Mount Osutaka, killing 520 people. Takagi took responsibility together with Executive Vice President Nao Machida and stepped down in December that year, handing the presidency to Susumu Yamaji.
Career
Career
Japan Airlines
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1969 | Senior Managing Director |
| 1971 | Executive Vice President |
| Jun 1981 | President |
| Dec 1985 | Stepped down as President |