Meet our customer -
Mr. Kazuto Manome, Trent XWB Chief Engineer at JAL Engineering

Japan Airlines Co., Ltd. (JAL) is a valued customer of Rolls-Royce’s Civil Aerospace unit and Rolls-Royce and JAL personnel have developed a close working relationship to ensure the safe day-to-day operation of aircraft equipped with our engines, and cooperation between our engineering departments is particularly important. In this article, we introduce Mr. Kazuto Manome, Trent XWB Engine Chief Engineer, System Engineering Group, Engine Maintenance Center, JAL Engineering Co., Ltd.

Posing with a Trent XWB in Rolls-Royce’s Testbed 80

“I work in the System Engineering Group of the Engine Maintenance Center as Chief Engineer for Trent XWB engine. I work with our team members and Rolls-Royce to study measures against issues, develop long-term engine overhaul plans, maintain and improve engine reliability and ensure stable operation.”

“In addition to international routes, we operate Trent XWB engines on domestic routes too, which is not typical. Failures not seen in operation on international routes are conceivable. Rolls-Royce engineers and our maintenance team work together to carefully check the condition of engines and carry out technical evaluations. I believe it is a privilege for an engineer to be involved in this kind of work.”

“I became an airline engineer because of the tragic accident in 1985 when our JAL123 747 crashed into Mount Osutaka. It made me want to work as an airline engineer to prevent such an accident from happening again.”

Japan Airlines A350 powered by Trent XWB
©2023 S J Byles

“From February 2020 I spent two years at Rolls-Royce’s facility in Derby, UK. One thing I realized while working with Rolls-Royce engineers is that what we at airlines consider common knowledge is not always so for Rolls-Royce engineers, and the opposite is also true. This taught me that it is important to communicate closely on a daily basis and to carefully share the background and purpose of things.”

“In both the aviation industry and other industries, through their work engineers can contribute to solving the world’s problems and changing society for the better. As there are situations where you need knowledge and experience beyond engineering skills to recognize a problem, I think people should be exposed to fields outside their specialization since their student days. Cultural differences can also create difficulties in parsing methods for recognizing and solving problems. Therefore, I advise students to consider opportunities to experience foreign cultures then, while they have more time to do so.”