Japan Airlines tightens booze rules for crew
Japan Airlines has pledged to introduce a raft of measures to make sure its flight crew don’t work while over the legal alcohol limit.
It comes after one of its co-pilots, due to fly from London Heathrow to Tokyo, was found to be nine times over the limit as he was about to board the flight.
Following an investigation, the airline said it has grounds to believe he falsified the breathalyser test.
The airline has now banned staff from consuming alcohol 24 hours before reporting for a flight from Japan and has banned alcohol during on-duty stays in Japan and overseas.
In addition, it will implement new breathalyser systems at overseas airports and put procedures in place to penalise staff who break the rules.
It has also pledged to follow up with staff that show signs of health issues.
Japanese media revealed JAL pilots have failed breathalyser tests 19 times in last 15 months, directly resulting in a dozen flight delays.
All staff including cabin crew, mechanics, airport operation staff, and ground handling crew will be required to undergo a breathalyser test and the airline will raise awareness on effects of alcohol consumption.
"The company takes this violation seriously, as safety remains our utmost priority, and sincerely apologises to all affected by the employee’s actions," it said.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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