Japan Airlines President and CEO Mitsuko Tottori will take a 30% pay cut for two months following a cabin crew alcohol violation that delayed a domestic flight and triggered an inspection by Japan’s transport ministry.
Chairperson Yuji Akasaka will also receive a 30% salary reduction for the same period and will be removed from his post as safety controller. Three other executives in flight operations and safety management have also received disciplinary action.
What happened
Flight JL252, scheduled to depart Hiroshima Airport (HIJ) for Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND) at 07:40 local time on May 23, 2026, was delayed by 42 minutes after a female cabin attendant tested positive for alcohol.
The attendant had been drinking with a colleague at a hotel lounge the night before, violating JAL’s policy that prohibits alcohol consumption within 12 hours of duty. She tested positive during a self-check but did not report the result. A second test at the airport confirmed the violation.
JAL barred her from boarding and deployed replacement staff. A total of 186 passengers were affected. The colleague she had been drinking with reported that she was unwell and could not board the flight. Both had been scheduled to work the service, with one serving as chief attendant.
Japan’s transport ministry conducted on-site inspections of JAL on May 28, 2026. In response, the airline implemented an immediate ban on cabin crew drinking during layovers before return flights.
A pattern of incidents
This is not the first time JAL executives have faced consequences over crew alcohol violations.
In August 2025, a male captain on an international flight drank excessively before his return service, prompting a formal warning from the transport ministry.
In December 2024, two pilots tested above the alcohol limit ahead of Flight JL774 from Melbourne Airport (MEL) to Narita International Airport (NRT), delaying the service by more than three hours.
In 2018, a pilot was jailed after showing up for a flight from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) to Tokyo with excessive alcohol in his system. Several JAL managers at the time, including Akasaka, took pay cuts of up to 20% for three months.
Tottori, who began her career at JAL as a flight attendant, became the airline’s first female president and CEO in April 2024.
2 comments
I am pretty sure that the JAL flight crews, like all airline flight crews, understand the relative drug/alcohol requirements. Not understanding how penalizing management due to offenders not following the established procedures is going to correct the problem. The offenders should carry the full weight of punishment to include employment termination where warranted. There are no second chances in emergency flight situations requiring the crews full, unimpaired attention!
Simplistic answer Paul, but when you’re attracted to the job by the chance to see the world at someone else’s expense – and away for up to 21 days at a time (as I was) – you obviously accept the conditions that go with it. That included no alcohol less than 8hrs. before a flight (my airline)… 12hrs. in India… and 24hrs. in the US of A. Having a drink with dinner after some of the long flights we did, was a ‘given’.
I’ll be interested to see how JAL’s recruitment goes if they impose a blanket ban on alcohol during all layovers.
No… stick to the current system and (if necessary) update the checks on crew prior to a flight?