JAPAN TIMES



 

Japan Airlines apologized Wednesday over a series of flight delays caused by drunken pilots, following a reprimand from the transport ministry.

There have been at least three cases in the past year or so in which a pilot failed to pass a pre-flight alcohol test or was reported to the police for loud, drunken behavior.

“We take this situation seriously, especially since we had already been given a business improvement order last December and had been in the process of implementing countermeasures,” JAL President Mitsuko Tottori told a news conference Wednesday.

The transport ministry’s reprimand follows a surprise inspection of the airline last week.

The ministry said Wednesday that the company’s oversight was insufficient and that the safety management system was not functioning adequately.

The most recent flight delay occurred in late August when a pilot scheduled to fly from Honolulu to Chubu Centrair International Airport in Aichi Prefecture was suspended from duty after he failed a voluntary pre-flight alcohol test due to heavy drinking the night before, causing three flights to be delayed by up to 18.5 hours. The pilot is set to be dismissed over the incident.

In April last year, a flight from Dallas was canceled the night before after a hotel called the police on a drunken JAL pilot for making too much noise. In December, two pilots drank heavily the night before a flight and then colluded to cover up the fact, leading to another delay.

Following these incidents, the transport ministry issued a business improvement order to JAL last year, prompting the airline to ban pilots from consuming alcohol overseas in between flights.

However, Tottori said Wednesday that such measures were insufficient and vowed to take stricter preventative measures.

“By comprehensively evaluating health check data and other information, we will ensure that crew members identified as having a particularly high risk related to alcohol consumption will not be assigned to flight duties,” Tottori said.

Those evaluated as having liver problems or past issues with alcohol, for example, will be deemed as “high risk” and relieved of flight duties, he explained.

So far, four pilots have been temporarily released from their duties.
Those who present a moderate risk of drunkenness may be required to submit images of alcohol test results at their place of stay, Tottori added.
JAL said other areas for improvement include better communication between management and the flight operation branch.

The airline has been ordered to submit a report detailing its new preventative measures to the transport ministry by the end of the month.