DieselDragRacer
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By Kiyotaka Matsuda and Kiyori Ueno
Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Koito Industries Ltd. will fix about 150,000 passenger seats in some 1,000 commercial airliners after saying that it falsified test results and made unauthorized design changes.
“Fraudulent acts were conducted across the organization,” Koito President Takashi Kakewaga told reporters in Tokyo today. The planes are operated by 32 airlines in countries including the U.S., China, Japan and Singapore.
The Yokohama, Japan-based company may also pay compensation because of the seats, which are mainly fitted in Boeing Co. and Airbus SAS planes, Kakewaga said. Singapore Airlines Ltd., Continental Airlines Inc. and All Nippon Airways Co. have delayed the introduction of new aircraft in recent weeks because of delays in getting seats from Koito.
“Fraudulent acts can be traced back to the mid-1990s, as far back as we have records,” said Shigeru Takano, director of Japan’s Civil Aviation Bureau’s airworthiness division. “It was an organizational fraud as such conduct has been found in multiple divisions.”
Koito has to submit a plan for making the repairs byFeb. 26, the ministry said. The most important fixes will be made by the end of May, while the remainder will be carried out by Dec. 31, it said. The ministry didn’t give a breakdown for how many seats were in the priority category.
Carry On Flying
Japan Airlines Corp., which uses Koito seats in 184 planes, said the regulator gave it permission to continue operating aircraft until repairs are made. All Nippon, Japan’s second- biggest carrier, said it uses Koito seats on 141 aircraft. Neither airline’s statement said how many planes would be affected by the repairs.
Singapore Airlines said last week that late seats would force it to delay the introduction of a new Airbus A380 and planned revamps of cabins in existing aircraft.
“We are working closely with Koito, the aircraft manufacturers and relevant regulatory authorities,” Nicholas Ionides, a spokesman, said in an e-mail. “We expect the issues will be resolved soon.”
Koito said last week that the All Nippon delay was caused by the axle in a new seat design failing a safety test. The carrier planned to call 5,000 passengers affected by the late entrance of new planes on a Tokyo-New York service, as well as seeking compensation from the seatmaker.
Koito fell 2.1 percent to 239 yen at the close of trading in Tokyo. Parent Koito Manufacturing Co., a Toyota Motor Corp. affiliate, dropped 2.4 percent to 1,409 yen.
Japan’s transport ministry gave an oral warning to Koito last year after JAL received seats covered in a material that wasn’t certified by the authorities. Seat material is important for slowing the spread of fires in aircraft.
To contact the reporter on the story: Kiyotaka Matsuda in Tokyo at
Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Koito Industries Ltd. will fix about 150,000 passenger seats in some 1,000 commercial airliners after saying that it falsified test results and made unauthorized design changes.
“Fraudulent acts were conducted across the organization,” Koito President Takashi Kakewaga told reporters in Tokyo today. The planes are operated by 32 airlines in countries including the U.S., China, Japan and Singapore.
The Yokohama, Japan-based company may also pay compensation because of the seats, which are mainly fitted in Boeing Co. and Airbus SAS planes, Kakewaga said. Singapore Airlines Ltd., Continental Airlines Inc. and All Nippon Airways Co. have delayed the introduction of new aircraft in recent weeks because of delays in getting seats from Koito.
“Fraudulent acts can be traced back to the mid-1990s, as far back as we have records,” said Shigeru Takano, director of Japan’s Civil Aviation Bureau’s airworthiness division. “It was an organizational fraud as such conduct has been found in multiple divisions.”
Koito has to submit a plan for making the repairs byFeb. 26, the ministry said. The most important fixes will be made by the end of May, while the remainder will be carried out by Dec. 31, it said. The ministry didn’t give a breakdown for how many seats were in the priority category.
Carry On Flying
Japan Airlines Corp., which uses Koito seats in 184 planes, said the regulator gave it permission to continue operating aircraft until repairs are made. All Nippon, Japan’s second- biggest carrier, said it uses Koito seats on 141 aircraft. Neither airline’s statement said how many planes would be affected by the repairs.
Singapore Airlines said last week that late seats would force it to delay the introduction of a new Airbus A380 and planned revamps of cabins in existing aircraft.
“We are working closely with Koito, the aircraft manufacturers and relevant regulatory authorities,” Nicholas Ionides, a spokesman, said in an e-mail. “We expect the issues will be resolved soon.”
Koito said last week that the All Nippon delay was caused by the axle in a new seat design failing a safety test. The carrier planned to call 5,000 passengers affected by the late entrance of new planes on a Tokyo-New York service, as well as seeking compensation from the seatmaker.
Koito fell 2.1 percent to 239 yen at the close of trading in Tokyo. Parent Koito Manufacturing Co., a Toyota Motor Corp. affiliate, dropped 2.4 percent to 1,409 yen.
Japan’s transport ministry gave an oral warning to Koito last year after JAL received seats covered in a material that wasn’t certified by the authorities. Seat material is important for slowing the spread of fires in aircraft.
To contact the reporter on the story: Kiyotaka Matsuda in Tokyo at
