Japan Press Weekly

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2024 May 15 - 21 [LABOR]

As demanded by union, JAL to deploy more CAs than aircraft doors to improve safety

Akahata on May 17 learned that Japan Airlines recently decided to deploy more cabin attendants on its Boeing 787s than the number of aircraft doors.

The Japan Federation of Aviation Workers’ Unions (Kohkuren) and its member unions have demanded the deployment of more cabin crew than the number of aircraft doors based on lessons learned from the Haneda Airport runway collision between a Japan Airlines passenger jet and a Japan Coast Guard aircraft on January 2.

According to the union, as an important factor behind the successful evacuation of all passengers and crew members on board the JAL aircraft, it is pointed out that the airplane was staffed with more cabin attendants on board than doors.

Currently under the government-set minimum standards, for example, in the case of a Boeing 787 passenger jet which is equipped with eight entry doors, the same number of doors as those on the crashed JAL aircraft, airline companies are allowed to place seven CAs on the aircraft.

Kohkuren, soon after the accident, launched a signature-collection campaign calling for assigning at least the same number of cabin staff as the number of aircraft doors and establishing a system to recognize cabin crew as licensed security personnel.

Kohkuren official Furukawa Asako welcomed JAL’s decision and said that the union will work even harder to push other airlines like All Nippon Airways (ANA) to adopt a policy similar to JAL’s.

In response to an Akahata inquiry, JAL said that the new CA arrangement policy was decided with the aim of improving the safety and quality of service based on the company’s review of the January 2 accident and that the new policy will be applied in July.

Past related article:
> Union in talks with JCP Takahashi calls for investigation of Haneda Airport collision incident based on Chicago Convention [January 10, 2024]