An airplane of Japan Airlines approaches to land at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Jan 5, 2024. (Photo: Reuters)
Japan's transport ministry has reprimanded Japan Airlines and urged it to compile preventive measures by July 17 after an incident in which two cabin attendants drank the day before a flight in May, delaying a scheduled flight for about 40 minutes.The female JAL employees had falsely reported in an internal investigation that they had not consumed alcohol in violation of company regulations, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said on Friday.
The ministry determined that the two women - the chief cabin attendant, in her 50s, who was later fired by JAL, and the other attendant, in her 30s, who was suspended - both tried to cover up the incident.
It said the incident showed that "awareness of safety issues has yet to be thoroughly ensured."
In a statement on Friday, JAL also announced punitive measures for all board members, including a 30% pay cut for President Mitsuko Tottori for two months, saying it "takes this matter extremely seriously and deeply apologises."
