Entranced by the view from the windows of an executive meeting room on the 24th floor of the headquarters of Japan Airlines in Tokyo's Tennozu Isle, I almost missed the entrance of JAL's president, Isao Kaneko. Luckily he is not the kind of man to take offense. Slightly built, in a pale gray suit, he simply laughed warmly and extended his hand.

"From my own office, I like to watch the planes coming in over the sea and turning left into Haneda airport to avoid causing too much nuisance to residential areas," he said. "Only one in four are JAL planes, but we hope to improve on that. We were allocated eight new slots in July, and by 2002 hope for many more. The sky's the limit."

Kaneko came to office in June 1998 at a time when the company's fortunes were in disarray. Due to an accumulated deficit, shareholders had received no dividend for six years. JAL had invested unwisely during the bubble years, with several resort hotel and real estate projects "unsuccessful." After it was decided to pay off all losses with capital reserves, Kaneko was appointed to see through a range of new policies and raise morale.