Japan Airlines President Takes 30% Pay Cut After Crew Members Concealed Preflight Drinking

Japan Airlines president Mitsuko Tottori will forfeit a significant portion of her salary after an incident involving two cabin crew members who consumed alcohol prior to a flight and then attempted to conceal their actions from supervisors.

The carrier announced that Tottori will take a 30 percent pay cut for two months as the airline accepts responsibility for the breach of its strict preflight alcohol policy

The incident occurred on May 23 when the chief flight attendant, spending an overnight layover in Hiroshima, met up with another crew member in a hotel bar. Japan Airlines imposes a strict 12-hour preflight alcohol ban, which in this case would have required the pair to stop drinking by 6:30 PM. The chief flight attendant continued drinking past that curfew, consuming two beers and two small glasses of white wine before retiring to her room. The next morning, she failed to properly report the result of an alcohol test conducted before heading to the airport. At the airport a second test was performed, where results were still exceeding limits. This led to the flight attendant being removed from duty, causing the flight to depart approximately 40 minutes late.

Leadership accepts responsibility

Tottori, who became the first woman to lead Japan Airlines when she was appointed president in 2024, framed the pay cut as a way of taking direct accountability for the lapses. She rose through the ranks of the company after starting her career as a cabin attendant, giving her a personal connection to the division at the center of the scandal.

The airline indicated that the executive pay reductions reflect a recognition that systemic issues, rather than isolated misconduct, allowed the violations to occur. By accepting a financial penalty at the top, Japan Airlines is signaling to regulators, passengers, and employees that it views the matter as a serious failure of internal controls.

Japan's Ministry of Transport formally reprimanded Japan Airlines following the incident and ordered the airline to submit a report outlining preventive measures by July 17, citing doubts over the airline's safety management system.

A pattern of alcohol issues in Japanese aviation

Japan's aviation sector has grappled with alcohol-related crew incidents for several years. Regulators introduced tougher rules after high-profile cases involving pilots who failed breath tests or showed signs of intoxication before flights. Carriers responded by investing in more rigorous screening, including breath analyzers at crew check-in points and stricter reporting requirements.

Japan Airlines itself has previously disciplined pilots over alcohol breaches, and the company has publicly committed to a zero-tolerance approach. The new revelations involving cabin crew suggest that enforcement challenges extend beyond the flight deck.

Industry analysts note that alcohol policies vary somewhat between carriers and jurisdictions, but most major airlines require crew members to refrain from drinking for at least eight to 12 hours before reporting for duty. Some carriers have extended that window further in response to past incidents.

What comes next

Japan Airlines said it will review training programs and reinforce communication about alcohol rules across its operations. The airline has already introduced a strict no-alcohol policy for flight attendants during layovers in the immediate aftermath of the incident, though the rule does not currently apply to crew members when they are at home. The carrier also plans to examine whether changes are needed to its testing procedures to catch violations earlier and discourage staff from attempting to hide consumption.

The chief flight attendant in her 50s was later fired by JAL, while the other flight attendant in her 30s was suspended.

Tottori is expected to address staff directly about the matter as Japan Airlines works to restore confidence in its compliance systems. The coming months will test whether the leadership shake-up and renewed focus on accountability translate into meaningful change on the ground.