JAL, ANA made same bids for Japan Post contracts
Japan Airlines Corp. and All Nippon Airways Co. made the same bids for Japan Post’s mail container service contracts in 115 rounds of open competitive tenders in last February, informed sources said Wednesday.
This was “unusual,” said a source. But a JAL official denied the two carriers colluded to rig bids.
Japan Post conducted 234 rounds of open tenders in last February for contracts in all of fiscal 2004, which started April 1. JAL and ANA, Japan’s two major air carriers, were invited to participate along with Skymark Airlines, a relative newcomer in the industry founded in 1996.
JAL and ANA eventually participated in 143 rounds, including the 115 rounds in which they offered exactly same prices, the sources said.
Their bid prices often exceeded Japan Post ceilings, forcing 212 of the 234 rounds to fail, they said. Japan Post had to negotiate and conclude contracts at prices that were higher than planned, they said.
Japan Post introduced open competitive tenders in April 2003, when it was created as a public entity to take over the Postal Services Agency’s mail delivery, postal savings and life insurance services.
