日本にっぽん航空こうくう機長きちょうの飲酒いんしゅ問題もんだい 国くにが厳重げんじゅう注意ちゅうい 再発さいはつ防止ぼうし策さくの報告ほうこく求もとめる

In late August, a Japan Airlines international flight captain drank alcohol at his accommodation in violation of company regulations, causing a delay to a departing flight. On the 10th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism issued a stern warning to the company and requested that they submit measures to prevent recurrence by the end of September.

On August 28, a Japan Airlines captain who was scheduled to work on a flight from Honolulu, Hawaii to Chubu Airport drank alcohol at his hotel in violation of company regulations, resulting in delays of up to more than 18 hours on a total of three flights, including the one he was supposed to operate.

Last December, Japan Airlines received a business improvement recommendation from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism after two pilots engaged in excessive drinking and then colluded to cover it up. As a measure to prevent recurrence, the airline has since banned all drinking at layover locations.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism summoned Yukio Nakagawa, Executive Director in charge of safety measures at Japan Airlines, on the morning of the 10th. Yasuo Ishii, Director of the Safety Department at the Civil Aviation Bureau, gave a stern warning, stating, The repeated incidents of alcohol consumption since last year indicate that safety awareness has not been thoroughly instilled in each and every employee.

On top of that, we asked them to consider measures to prevent recurrence and to submit a written report by the end of September.

In response, Executive Director Nakagawa apologized, stating, We take your comments extremely seriously and will promptly implement fundamental measures to prevent any recurrence.

Japan Airlines President Apologizes Regarding the strict warning received from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism over an international flight captain drinking at his place of stay, Japan Airlines President Mitsuko Tottori said at a press conference, We take this situation extremely seriously, especially since we have been working on countermeasures following a business improvement advisory issued last December, yet still ended up in this situation.

I sincerely and deeply apologize for the great trouble and concern I have caused you.

He said, We are very sorry, and offered an apology.

Also, regarding the repeated incidents of crew members drinking alcohol, President Tottori said, Our response was inadequate.

I have been monitoring the crew, but if you ask whether I was truly able to manage them, in the end, I wasn’t able to oversee their health management.

We missed identifying some high-risk individuals, he said.

On top of that, it was revealed that the captain who drank alcohol at his place of stay will soon be dismissed as a disciplinary measure.

As a measure to prevent recurrence, the company will revise its standards for managing and supervising crew members alcohol consumption to place greater emphasis on health management data than before. Based on these new standards, if it is determined that a crew member is at high risk of alcohol consumption, they will not be allowed to be on duty.