Japan Airlines CEO has taken a 30% pay cut due to crew members allegedly breaching company policies

Japan Airlines CEO Mitsuko Tottori has taken a 30% pay cut to accept institutional accountability and responsibility following incidents where flight attendants and pilots violated company alcohol policies. JAL also responded by banning all 6,000 of its flight attendants from drinking alcohol on work layovers. According to a report the incident involved two cabin crew members allegedly breaching company alcohol policies during a layover period. Reports indicate that the issue came to light after pre-duty checks identified a problem involving at least one crew member, resulting in operational disruption and an internal review.

The situation has since triggered a wider response from the airline, including disciplinary measures and tighter rules affecting both frontline staff and senior management. With Japan Airlines tightening enforcement and applying executive-level consequences.

On the 23rd of May, a flight attendant scheduled to operate a Japan Airlines domestic service, JL252, tested positive for alcohol during a routine pre-flight screening. The crew member was deemed unfit for duty and immediately removed from the assignment, requiring the airline to source a replacement at short notice, which contributed to a delay of approximately 50 minutes to the scheduled departure.

The affected service operated between Hiroshima Airport (HIJ/RJOA) and Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND/RJTT), one of Japan Airlines’ high-frequency domestic routes connecting a regional airport with the airline’s main Tokyo hub. Pre-flight alcohol testing is a standard procedure across Japanese carriers designed to confirm compliance with strict fitness-for-duty rules before departure.

A subsequent internal investigation found that two flight attendants had consumed alcohol during their layover period beyond permitted company limits, which set specific restrictions on pre-duty alcohol intake. The airline determined that the consumption occurred the day before departure and represented a breach of internal policy, escalating the matter from a single failed test to a wider compliance violation within the crew pairing on that layover.

Japan Airlines responded by implementing disciplinary measures affecting both frontline staff and senior management. CEO Mitsuko Tottori, the first female to lead the company after joining as a flight attendant herself in 1985, accepted a 30% reduction in salary for two months, while other executives also received temporary pay cuts as part of the company’s internal accountability process. Safety manager Yukio Nakagawa and cabin services manager Junko Nakano will each take a 20% salary reduction for one month.

Meanwhile, all other directors will receive a 10% pay cut over the same period, according to reports. Alongside executive action, the airline introduced a stricter policy banning alcohol consumption during layovers for more than 6,000 flight attendants. The change was intended to remove ambiguity in existing rules and strengthen enforcement of pre-duty alcohol restrictions across operational staff.

The response reflects a governance approach in which senior leadership shares responsibility for systemic compliance failures, combining individual disciplinary action with broader policy tightening aimed at preventing recurrence of similar incidents. Japan’s transport ministry reprimanded Japan Airlines following the incident and required the airline to submit preventive measures to address gaps in compliance monitoring.