Two of Japan Airlines’ most senior executives will have their pay docked following another incident of pilots drinking inappropriately.
JAL Chief Executive Officer Mitsuko Tottori and Chairman Yuji Akasaka will be subject to a 30% pay cut for two months over an incident involving two pilots who were found to be over the limit in the hours ahead of their scheduled flight.
Akasaka will also have his role overseeing safety measures at the airline revoked.
Three other managers from JAL’s flight operations and safety management divisions have also been given “urgent consideration” for disciplinary action, a JAL spokesperson said Friday.
The punishments stem from an incident last month when two male captains who had been out drinking the day before caused a flight from Melbourne to Tokyo to be delayed by around three hours after alcohol was found in their system during a preflight check at their hotel the next morning. JAL’s policy prohibits the consumption of alcohol within 12 hours of boarding.
It isn’t the first time JAL has been involved in situations where its pilots have failed alcohol breathalyzer tests.
Some managers took pay cuts of up to 20% for a three-month period in 2018 after a pilot showed up for a London-to-Tokyo flight with excessive alcohol in his system. He was subsequently jailed. One of the top managers involved at the time was Akasaka.
More recently, in April 2024, JAL canceled a flight from Dallas to Tokyo after the pilot was found to be drunk and disorderly.