Sayonara

MOSES LAKE — Grasping white handkerchiefs, 150 guests waved goodbye to Japan Airlines’ (JAL) last training flight bound for home Wednesday.

The flight’s take-off was a culmination of a farewell ceremony held at the airlines’ Moses Lake location at the Grant County International Airport.

JAL is leaving Moses Lake and closing its flight training center after 40 years in the community.

Last year, JAL officials cited the high cost of fuel as the main reason and the switch to two-engine aircraft, which are more fuel-efficient.

For the ceremony, guests represented various groups, from government heads and business contacts, to neighbors, like FAA air traffic controllers Ty Howard and Cale Cook. They work at the Grant County International Airport.

Howard and Cook were among the guests who lined up to board a Boeing 747-400, where a portion of the ceremony was held.

Howard said he attended because he can understand the impact JAL had on the community.

Cale met JAL employees when he and other co-workers went on an orientation flight with JAL and sat in the airplane’s cockpit.

JAL Capt. Kazuo Noda said JAL is very sorry this is their last morning in Moses Lake. He thanked everyone for their friendship and support over the years.

JAL owes a large part of its success to Moses Lake residents, he noted.

Moses Lake Mayor Ron Covey said the city is losing one of the best neighbors it ever had.

Covey recalled the support JAL provided to the community over the years, including number donations to the city’s park and recreation department and $30,000 to handle ash cleanup after Mt. St. Helens erupted in 1980.

The airline will be “sorely missed by all of us,” Covey commented.

Air America owner Larry Godden, who recently sold the company to Million Air, complimented Air America and JAL staff for their efforts as an integral part of the operation.

Port of Moses Lake Commissioner Delone Krueger said today is a kind of a sad day but a day of remembrance for us all.

He thanked the Moses Lake staff for a great friendship and spoke of being welcomed into an JAL employee’s home when he and his wife first moved to Moses Lake.

After the ceremony, Mike Lang, a Big Bend Community College vice president, said JAL was a great partner to the college.

“Especially for our flight program,” Lang commented. “They’re a great example of what our pilots can become.”

JAL employees also helped reinforce the community’s friendliness with participation of the college’s Japanese Agriculture Training Program, which Lang also directs.  

JAL’s presence in Moses Lake brought a culture to Grant County one wouldn’t expect, he commented.

Brenda Martinez, JAL’s executive administrative assistant, said the sister city program will continue this year through JAL’s Moses Lake office.

Five exchange students and their chaperones are flown from Moses Lake to Japan as part of the program.

Next year, the program will be assisted through JAL’s San Francisco office.

This is the last year JAL will send Miss Moses Lake to Yonezawa, Japan.

Wednesday’s farewell was considered a “big thank you to those we had done business with for so many years,” she added.

Martinez also mentioned the presence of city officials, friends and Nisei families who were friends to JAL.

You can view more photos of JAL's last flight here.