Japan Airlines has told all its pilots to refrain from drinking in the 24 hours before a flight during stopovers, according to the company.
The decision follows a recent case in which a male copilot had about 10 mugs of beer on the eve of a flight and was not able to execute his duty.
In October last year, another copilot of the company, who has since been fired as a punitive measure, was arrested in Britain for heavy drinking. Following the incident and for other reasons, JAL prohibited all pilots from drinking before flights in stopover locations. The company subsequently lifted the ban in April after tightening the alcohol test used before each flight and setting up other preventive measures.
On the evening on June 19, however, the male copilot in question had 10 mid-sized mugs of beer during a stopover and became unable to board a flight from Kushiro, Hokkaido, to Haneda Airport in Tokyo.
Since April, there have been two more cases of a JAL or group company employee becoming unable to fly due to drinking. On June 23, the airliner prohibited pilots from drinking for 24 hours before a flight during stopovers.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
