JAL Captain Taken Off Flight Crew after Drinking 3 Beers, Delaying Flight from Honolulu by 2 Hours

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:10 JST, September 4, 2025

The captain of a Japan Airlines flight from Honolulu was removed from the flight’s crew in late August a day after he drank a prohibited amount of alcohol, which led him to say he felt unwell, it has been learned.

The captain reportedly consumed more than double the company’s stipulated limit for alcohol.

On Wednesday, the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry conducted an emergency inspection of Japan Airlines Co.’s Flight Operations division at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, based on the Civil Aeronautics Law.

JAL was given administrative guidance last December to improve its operations, after an incident involving excessive drinking by two pilots in Melbourne. As part of its efforts to prevent further incidents, the airline has implemented a “no alcohol” policy for pilots at their accommodations.

The ministry will confirm the situation and consider administrative sanctions against the captain and others.

According to JAL and other sources, the captain was scheduled to fly Flight 793, a Boeing 787-9, from Honolulu to Chubu Airport with 251 passengers and crew on board from 2:20 p.m. on Aug. 28. However, he said he felt unwell before the flight, prompting JAL to arrange his replacement and causing a delay of about two hours for the flight and delays of up to18 hours for two other flights.

An investigation by JAL found that the captain had consumed three tall cans, about half a liter each, of high-alcohol beer — just under 10% alcohol — in his hotel room on the afternoon of Aug. 27. JAL has internal regulations, approved by the government, limiting alcohol levels in the body 12 hours before duty. The limit is equivalent to drinking two tall cans of beer that are 5% alcohol. The captain’s alcohol intake was more than twice this limit.

JAL was also given administrative guidance in May last year, when another captain caused a drunken disturbance at a lodging in Dallas. In the Melbourne incident, for which JAL received a business improvement order, the two pilots hid the fact that they had drunk above the limit and flew anyways. Spring Japan Co., JAL’s group company, also received a stern warning in May this year after the captain of a cargo flight drank during the no-alcohol period before a flight.