ANA, HACS and Sojitz Create Pilot Leasing Company

New Company, CReW, to address ANA pilot needs and worldwide flight crew demand

TOKYO August 17, 2006 In a tripartite joint venture designed to address the increasing pilot needs of the ANA Group and other airlines around the world, the Honolulu based crew leasing company Hawaii Aviation Contract Services (HACS), Japanese airline ANA (All Nippon Airways) and Japanese trading corporation Sojitz today established a new flight crew leasing company.

The new company, Crew Resources Worldwide, L.L.C. (CReW) will be based in Honolulu, Hawaii. The President of CreW will be Frank Tabata, former CEO of HACS. Its main objective will be to provide highly skilled pilots for ANA Group airlines in anticipation of the expansion of Tokyo's Haneda Airport in 2009 and to address the need for highly qualified flight crews worldwide.

"CReW expects to maximize the experience and expertise of each of its partners to provide the best possible solution with the greatest efficiency to its customers. For ANA Group, this means supplying flight crews trained to our exacting standards where and when we need them," said Mitsuo Morimoto, ANA Executive Vice President, Flight Operations. "To achieve its ambitious goals, CReW is also in talks with The Boeing Company and Boeing subsidiary Alteon, which specialises in pilot training on a global scale. The talks are about marketing and training agreements, which will allow CReW to provide unsurpassed quality, standards and global reach," he continued.

Commenting on the joint venture, CReW President Frank Tabata said: "This is the first time that an established flight crew leasing company has teamed up with major players such as ANA, Sojitz and Alteon. We look forward to working together with our new partners in helping both established airlines and new entrants solve the problem of finding highly qualified crews to operate their equipment safely and efficiently."

Jimmy Katsura, Senior Vice President Sojitz Corporation, added: "The industry is expecting a severe shortage of pilots in the near future, so we are excited to be part of CReW and to provide highly skilled flight crews to not only ANA Group airlines but airlines worldwide. We are particularly expecting demand from China, Asia and the Middle East where strong airline growth is in evidence."

The total capital investment in CReW by the three partners is US$1,000,000, with HACS holding 34%, and ANA and Sojitz holding 33% each.

The Relationship Between HACS and CReW

It may seem somewhat confusing to try to understand how Hawaii Aviation (HACS) and CREW Resources Worldwide (CREW) are both involved in the recruiting process for the same contract flying jobs. However, the explanation is fairly simple. HACS is a major investor in the new company CREW Resources Worldwide (CREW). That means that even though you may fill out a CREW application for one of our positions and even though you may come to work for CREW, all of your screening arrangements will be coordinated by a recruiter from HACS. All of your paperwork will be handled at HACS and your arrangements for the screening process will be handled by HACS. This all changes on January 1, 2010. After that time CREW will be the only ones that you will talk to for jobs at the ANA group.

If you have any further questions about this arrangement or about the two companies please do not hesitate to ask your recruiter.