The incident involving two cabin attendants delayed a domestic flight for about 40 minutes in May
2-MIN READ2-MINKyodoPublished: 7:30am, 13 Jun 2026Japan’s transport ministry on Friday 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, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
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 per cent pay cut for president Mitsuko Tottori for two months, saying it “takes this matter extremely seriously and deeply apologises”.
The aircraft was scheduled to depart from Hiroshima to Tokyo’s Haneda airport at 7.40am on May 23, but was delayed until 8.22am. The chief cabin attendant drank alcohol at a hotel lounge beyond the time permitted under company rules the previous day.
