Japan Airlines retires all PW4000-powered 777s

JAL – Japan Airlines (JL, Tokyo Haneda) has joined ANA – All Nippon Airways in retiring its fleet of PW4000-powered B777s in the wake of a February 20, 2021, incident in which United Airlines B777-200 N772UA (msn 26930) suffered an uncontained engine failure. In a statement, JAL said that in light of the uncertainty of when the variant would be allowed to fly again, coupled with the added uncertainty of the COVID-19 market environment, it had decided to accelerate the jets’ retirement to March 31 against the originally planned March 2022 date. According to the ch-aviation fleets advanced module, JAL had nine B777-200s (powered by PW4084s) and four B777-300s (powered by PW4090s) in storage as of late February when they were grounded. JAL said it would partially replace the B777s with A350-900s on flights out of Okinawa Naha. Despite the move, JAL continues to operate seven B777-200(ER)s and thirteen B777-300(ER)s, all of which are powered by General Electric GE90s.