ANA Group and JAL Group will start training of first class aircraft line maintenance technicians, maintenance personnel who can confirm completion of maintenance, such as the pre-departure inspection of large aircraft operated by scheduled airlines, from April 2007 in cooperation and coordination with the Japan Aviation Technical College and Naka-Nippon Aviation College.

Currently, the ANA Group and JAL Group employ many graduates from aviation technical colleges who have obtained second class aircraft maintenance technician certificates and second class aircraft line maintenance technician certificates, qualifying them as being able to confirm the completion of maintenance small aircraft (such as Cessnas), but the airlines shared the same interest in that there were few maintenance personnel qualified for large aircraft.

Therefore, to prepare for the retirement of maintenance personnel who were employed in the years of large scale expansion and to cope with the increase of maintenance activities to be provided by the coming increase in slots at Narita and Haneda airports, the airlines have held studies with related organizations on ways to effectively jointly train maintenance personnel for large aircraft by businesses and colleges.

Under the joint training program of maintenance personnel by the airlines and aviation technical colleges, an internship program will be introduced with the cooperation of the airlines to conduct training on large aircraft simulators, OJT (On the Job Training), that was difficult for aviation technical colleges to do independently. Trainees will be able to acquire the first class aircraft line maintenance certificates while enrolled at college. Specifically, from FY2007, Japan Aviation Technical College and Naka-Nippon Aviation College will open a first class aircraft line maintenance technician course, which will provide basic training on aircraft in the first and second years on campus, and in the third year, knowledge and skills on large aircraft as interns under the guidance and supervision of instructors at airline training facilities and maintenance centres, at Haneda and Narita airports. In FY2009, ANA and JAL plan to recruit 15 interns each respectively, a total of around 30 personnel.

Training maintenance personnel for large aircraft at aviation technical colleges will not only enable the airlines to secure human resources with the qualities required of maintenance personnel in this age of low birthrate, but it is also meaningful for businesses and colleges to collaborate and cooperate in securing quality human resources and training qualified maintenance personnel.