I’m all for accountability, but it seems that something isn’t working when the same “punishment” is doled out three times over the course of a year, yet the same thing keeps happening…
In this post:
Japan Airlines executives punished over crew actions
Senior executives at Japan Airlines are going to have their pay docked in the short term, following yet another incident of employees drinking too much prior to operating a flight. Specifically, CEO Mitsuko Tottori will have her pay cut by 30% for a period of two months. Furthermore, the company’s safety manager, Yukio Nakagawa, and the company’s cabin services manager, Junko Nakano, will receive a 20% pay cut for one month. All other directors will receive a 10% pay cut for one month.
This latest pay cut is being driven by a recent incident that happened on a domestic Japan Airlines flight. Long story short, two flight attendants were catching up with one another on a layover, and failed to adhere to the carrier’s policy of no drinking within 12 hours of flying, and of not having any alcohol in their system when arriving at the airport.
Japan Airlines requires all crews to do constant alcohol testing, given the carrier’s historical issues with this. While one of the flight attendants called in sick, the other flight attendant still tried to show up at the airport, and ultimately failed the test. That caused a flight delay, as a replacement crew had to be called in.
This has also caused regulators to once again increase scrutiny of the airline. Following this incident, all Japan Airlines flight attendants have been banned from drinking alcohol on layovers, regardless of how long the layover is.
This level of accountability is admirable… sort of
On the surface, this level of accountability all very much reflects Japanese business culture, and of senior leaders taking responsibility when things go wrong. Optics also matter. It reminds me of how in 2009, when Japan Airlines was losing money, the CEO would take the bus to work, and would have lunch in the employee cafeteria with everyone else.
But here’s the thing — this is now the third time in roughly a year that we’ve seen Japan Airlines’ CEO take a 30% pay cut, all over drinking employees. In the two previous instances, it was due to issues with drinking pilots.
I tend to think that the point of accountability is to cause behavior to change in the long run, so if you keep accepting the same punishment and the same thing keeps happening, then maybe that’s not actually working. Of course this is largely about optics, and ultimately something is better than nothing.
It’s hard to know what exactly is going on with Japan Airlines, and why its employees have such an issue with following alcohol policies. Admittedly I realize that in Japan many people like to “let loose,” despite how rigid and rule-oriented the country can appear, on the surface.
Admittedly Japan’s aviation alcohol rules are also incredibly strict, and with the amount of testing that happens, it’s not surprising that rules are sometimes broken. I imagine it would be similar at most other airlines, if testing were that frequent. However, what I can’t make sense of is why this is such an issue at Japan Airlines, but not at All Nippon Airways, for example. What is driving that, exactly?
Bottom line
Japan Airlines’ CEO is taking a 30% pay cut for a period of two months, following yet another incident where an employee violated the company’s alcohol policy. On top of that, other executives had their pay docked as well.
This is now the third time in roughly a year that executives are facing this punishment, so I’m not sure this is really working. Then again, given the really strict alcohol limits, there are always going to be some “bad apples,” and I’m not sure this can be blamed squarely on management. When you have a workforce of thousands, can you really control for the actions of every single person? However, why is this more of an issue at Japan Airlines than All Nippon Airways?
What do you make of Japan Airlines’ senior managers taking pay cuts over this drinking situation?
To provide some additional context, the real issue here wasn't just a regular failed test, but rather how the situation unfolded on the ground.
The 50-year-old Chief Purser actually ignored repeated warnings from her junior crew members, who urged her to take the test at the hotel before boarding the shuttle bus. She used her seniority to delay the screening until they reached the airport to lower her alcohol levels, and initially gave a...
To provide some additional context, the real issue here wasn't just a regular failed test, but rather how the situation unfolded on the ground.
The 50-year-old Chief Purser actually ignored repeated warnings from her junior crew members, who urged her to take the test at the hotel before boarding the shuttle bus. She used her seniority to delay the screening until they reached the airport to lower her alcohol levels, and initially gave a false report.
Due to this attempted cover-up, JAL took strict disciplinary action, summarily dismissing (firing) the Chief Purser and suspending the other crew member involved.
This breakdown in the hierarchy—where a senior manager could suppress junior staff's safety concerns—is exactly why the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism stepped in regarding a Safety Management System breach.
As for the comparison between JL and NH, I would be curious if the same level of testing happens in both airlines. I do agree that there might be a significant number of non-reported cases due to the lack of testing, especially among cabin crew members.
Japan a cultural inclination to accept guilt. Apparently this across the board punishment might not be as useful as it once was.
@lucky, totally off topic but did you read today about the easyJet Holidays all inclusive package to Morocco where the guests were told they have to pay £24 per person per hour to use the pool and a similar amount to use the jacuzzi!