Japan Airlines just can’t seem to catch a break when it comes to employees and their alcohol consumption. Ordinarily it’s the pilots who get in trouble, but here’s a case where a senior flight attendant got in trouble, and it’ll have major implications for all flight attendants.
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Japan Airlines flight delayed over intoxicated flight attendant
Japan Airlines is facing public scrutiny and is having to apologize over an incident that happened on Saturday, May 23, 2026, impacting flight JL252 from Hiroshima (HIJ) to Tokyo (HND).
As reported by Aviation Wire and flagged by PYOK, two flight attendants onboard the flight were found to be above the legal alcohol limit, meaning replacement flight attendants had to be brought in, causing a delay of over 30 minutes. The flight was initially supposed to depart at 7:40AM and arrive at 9AM, while it ended up taking off at 8:32AM and landing at 9:31AM, a little over 30 minutes behind schedule.
The incident involves a senior flight attendant in her 50s, who had been at the company since 1992, as well as a lead cabin attendant in her 30s, who had been at the company since 2019 (the senior flight attendants is essentially the purser, while the lead cabin attendant is in charge of one specific cabin).
The two knew each other from the past, and were looking forward to catching up during their layover. At around 5:30PM local time, the two began drinking in the lounge of the hotel. The restriction was that they had to stop drinking by 6:40PM, 12 hours before they were required to report for duty.
However, they ended up pouring their last glass of wine at 7:15PM, and returned to their rooms at 9:25PM. In total, the senior flight attendant consumed two 300ml beers and two 125ml glasses of white wine. The two claimed that while they knew the carrier’s policies on drinking, they got carried away in conversation, and lost track of time.
Alcohol testing in Japan is very stringent for crews, and before the flight, there are typically two rounds of testing — there’s pre-work testing (done at home or in the hotel) and then pre-flight testing (conducted when the crew meets, prior to the flight). Interestingly, the company doesn’t automatically know the results of the pre-work testing, but they do automatically get the pre-flight testing results.
The less senior of the two flight attendants reportedly called in sick, claiming she was feeling unwell, likely realizing she was above the limit. For the more senior flight attendant:
- At 5:45AM she took her pre-work test, and had a reading of 0.23 milligrams of alcohol per liter of breath
- She didn’t report this to the company, but stalled for time, hoping that by the time her pre-work test happened, she’d be below the limit
- In the hotel lobby, the other crew members noticed that the senior flight attendant hadn’t yet undergone her pre-flight test, and urged her to do so; however, she boarded the bus, and said she’d do so when she gets there
- When the test was performed at the airport, she was found to have a reading of 0.11 milligrams of alcohol per liter of breath; a re-test was conducted, and the reading remained between 0.10 and 0.13 milligrams
Japan Airlines bans alcohol consumption on layovers
While airline crews being over the legal limit of alcohol is taken seriously around the globe, the optics surrounding this are especially serious in Japan, given the culture, plus the history of this issue. Japan Airlines has had more than its fair share of intoxicated pilots, so the airline has had to take drastic action (including the CEO taking a pay cut over such incidents).
Now flight attendants are facing similar punishment. Following this latest alcohol related incident, Japan Airlines is prohibiting all flight attendants from drinking alcohol on layovers. This applies both domestically and internationally, and even more than 12 hours before the report time.
This is obviously an extreme solution, though I suppose the idea is that if you don’t allow it at all, then maybe this “slippery slope” of drinking in the hours leading up to the deadline will be less of an issue.
Just to give you a sense of how seriously this is being taken, this incident happened on the 23rd, and the airline put out a detailed announcement with all of its findings and actions by the 27th. And it even had to apologize for the timeline, that this took so long. As the company’s safety manager explained, “ideally, we would have wanted to inform you earlier yesterday, but it was delayed by a day.”
Bottom line
Japan Airlines is finding itself in an alcohol scandal yet again, this time involving flight attendants who “turned up” a little too much on a Hiroshima layover. The most senior flight attendant on the flight, who had been at the airline for nearly 35 years, had four drinks the night before the flight, including within 12 hours of when she was supposed to report for work.
Rather than calling in sick, she ultimately failed multiple breathalyzers, causing a flight to be delayed, so they could find new crew members. As you’d expect, this is being taken very seriously, and the result is that no flight attendants can drink on layovers anymore.
What do you make of Japan Airlines’ new alcohol policy for flight attendants?
This issue is not unique to JAL or flight crews. FOCUS ON THAT instead of begging that question.
WE tend to allow consumption to the point that numeric (objective) standards exist, WORSE we put such a high premium on attendance and performance that impaired people elect to try the BAC-Lottery. Captain Kelsey on YT has an entire ep dedicated to "that one pilot" with a 1.75L in his carryon and more in his system that...
This issue is not unique to JAL or flight crews. FOCUS ON THAT instead of begging that question.
WE tend to allow consumption to the point that numeric (objective) standards exist, WORSE we put such a high premium on attendance and performance that impaired people elect to try the BAC-Lottery. Captain Kelsey on YT has an entire ep dedicated to "that one pilot" with a 1.75L in his carryon and more in his system that was "offered an out" by the investigator who suggested he call in sick and walk away.
Our systems reward showing up and doing the job, NOT safety or health. THAT MUST CHANGE. JAL's CEO apologizing won't correct a worldwide cultural lack of leeway.
THINK OF THE CHILDREN. Do you want your kid's school bus driver "chancing" an 0.04% or can he/she call in sick last minute, inconvenience scheduling and flow, or some third option.
Of course --as in all other employee matters-- if it's a pattern behavior reach out and help. Don't judge. It's not aircrews or JAL or your local retiree driving that bus. It's all of them.
Call in sick …. A no brainer
Too many kung pao chicken! Lol
Because the Japanese are notoriously great at eating Chinese food? Or that they are great at taking spicy food?
lol lol lol lol lol
> Too many kung pao chicken! Lol
I suppose adding "Lol" doesn't make it a racial slur at all. After all, an American-Chinese dish is the reason Japanese flight attendants got tipsy beyond the numbers.
Our global village prizes attendance over safety -- until the light blinks red. If you're in a position of management or rulemaking focus on employee and cutomer safety, not who got busted and how and when.
They claim they had "a couple" of glasses of wine but were still registering by THE NEXT MORNING? Yeah, they were completely soused for it to have not abated by the next morning!
Strange that cabin crew can't drink on layovers but pilots (who are more directly responsible for flight safety) still can?
Japan Airlines (JAL) pilots are strictly prohibited from drinking within 24 hours of flight duty. Following past incidents, JAL extended its "bottle-to-throttle" rule from 12 to 24 hours and outright banned pilots from consuming alcohol during work layovers.
Ben should post another version of this post, changing "flight attendant" to "safety marshal." If the people up front in charge of keeping the plane from crashing can't drink, the people in back in charge of...
Japan Airlines (JAL) pilots are strictly prohibited from drinking within 24 hours of flight duty. Following past incidents, JAL extended its "bottle-to-throttle" rule from 12 to 24 hours and outright banned pilots from consuming alcohol during work layovers.
Ben should post another version of this post, changing "flight attendant" to "safety marshal." If the people up front in charge of keeping the plane from crashing can't drink, the people in back in charge of getting me off it when it does, should be subject to the same rules.
What exactly is a FA going to do wrong with that little alcohol left on their breath?
Serious question.
Perhaps lay your knife at 91 degrees not 90 angle?
Rules is rules, K4.
Weird
I’m not against this new rule. Of course it’s nice to have a drink on a layover but you are on that layover because of your job. And the behaviour of the flight attendant is totally irresponsible. I’ve had a drink more than 12 hours before duty and when I woke up I sensed the alcohol wasn’t 100% out of my system, so I called in sick. That’s just common sense.
How does one sense the alcohol isn't 100% out of the system ? After one wakes up it's a new day .
Bruce, you can "sense" the effect of one drink 12 hours later?
.1 mg/L is comparable to a BAC of .02. I fail to see how that is a problem.
Realistically I can probably drive and not crash at 0.08, but that doesn't mean I'm going to. Rules aren't made just for me, they're made for all possibilities
I agree. The involved values are very low or strict. Converted into BAC values the test came out as 0.46 and 0.22 for the crew member who did the test.
In many European countries the limit for driving is 0,5 BAC which converts to 0,25 mg/L.
The driving limit in many European countries is 0.05%, as it is in Australia and New Zealand. In Japan the driving limit is 0.03%. If company policy and the law means that airline crews need a negative alcohol screen, then they need a negative alcohol screen. It's not difficult to set an alarm on one's phone as a reminder to stop drinking at a specific time.
Jerry ... Ditto . What's next ? No sake ?
I hope somebody was able to finish all the Salon I left in that bottle.
I'm not sure why crew should be drinking at night. Or at least if they have a less than a 24 hour layover. You're on company business.
I think with US carriers, or at least with the FAA, cabin crew's last drink can be 8 hours before duty time. Although the airline's might have a stricter rule.
However, I wouldn't consider flight attendants to be on company business given they are not being paid. Once they are off the plane, they are on their own time. It would be no different than if they landed off a flight, went home, and went back to work the following morning.
FAA regulation is 8 hours plus a BAC of below 0.04%. However, most carriers have in their programs (which means once govt approved is as good as a regulation) is 0.00% and/or a combination of 8 to 12 hours.
Testing is only done either as a random (in which case a non-company service basically determines the who and sends a collector out) or as reasonable suspicion in which case it requires a member of...
FAA regulation is 8 hours plus a BAC of below 0.04%. However, most carriers have in their programs (which means once govt approved is as good as a regulation) is 0.00% and/or a combination of 8 to 12 hours.
Testing is only done either as a random (in which case a non-company service basically determines the who and sends a collector out) or as reasonable suspicion in which case it requires a member of management usually to have to run through the checklist and document (as a station manager I've had to do this before on a F/A or three). Of course if they get injured or are in an accident/incident they get tested as a matter of course. But basically in the US, a F/A can call sick and not get tested if not observed - as long as they can deal with the consequences of calling out sick on-line which usually means they have to get checked out by a doctor in the city where they called out.
George, I suppose you never have a drink on Tuesday evening.
You're within 24 hours of being on the job again, after all.
This is the reason why US airlines are the best in the world. We have the military grade discipline and mental fortitude in all our people to be able to take alcohol and operate at optimal capacity unlike the staff that festers in JAL.
"Military grade" indeed, just ask Pete Kegsmith, who appears to be always severely impaired by a long history of alcoholism and drug addiction, may people say.
OORAH!
Oh, wait, he wasn't a US Marine, he was in the National Guard reservist. So he was pretend military.
Willy, Pete Kegsmith, is that the real name of the person who logs in as ORD …. (and all that gubbins)?
National Guard be dammed, a weekend warrior, well I never. Was he logistics, blanket stacker in reality?
"Willy, Pete Kegsmith..."
No, it's a reference to the unqualified fat orange Nazi toady who pretends to function as the US secretary of defense when not sucking down liquor.
Would you get a genius to work as a toilet cleaner?
Pete, Trump and his administration are natural born geniuses, they were gifted, why would you want them to fight in the front line when their brains are worth more than hundreds if not thousands of soldiers combined.
Well if flight attendants are there "for our safety" then this seems like a no brainer. That and it seems like Japan Airlines doesn't want their crew members to resemble fat, drunk slobs like we see on U.S. carriers.
The projection and self-loathing in you runs deep.
SAD!