Japan Airlines cuts CEO’s pay 30% after crew alcohol breach

Chairperson Yuji Akasaka will take an equivalent 30% reduction and lose his post as safety controller, according to AeroTime, which also reported that three other executives in flight operations and safety management received disciplinary action.

Two executives overseeing safety and cabin operations face 20% pay cuts for one month, while all other directors and executive officers face 10% reductions for a month, the Japan Airlines spokesperson said. One cabin crew member was fired and another suspended.

What triggered the discipline

The incident centered on Flight JL252, scheduled to depart Hiroshima Airport for Tokyo’s Haneda Airport at 7:40 a.m. local time on 23 May, which was delayed by 42 minutes after a cabin attendant tested positive for alcohol. The attendant had been drinking with a colleague at a hotel bar during a layover, exceeding the airline’s 12-hour preflight alcohol restriction, and then failed to properly report her test result the next morning.

Japan’s transport ministry has opened an inspection into the airline as a result. In response, Japan Airlines banned cabin crew from drinking alcohol during layovers entirely, regardless of layover length.

This is not the first time JAL executives have absorbed pay cuts over crew alcohol violations: managers including Akasaka took cuts of up to 20% for three months following a 2018 case in which a pilot was jailed for excessive alcohol before a London-to-Tokyo flight.