Japan Press Weekly

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2024 June 12 - 18 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

More cabin attendants than state minimum standard to be assigned on JAL Boeing 787s

Akahata editorial (excerpts)

Japan Airlines (JAL), starting in July, will increase the number of cabin attendants on Boeing 787s above the minimum standard set by the national government and will assign them to cover all aircraft doors, including emergency exits.

Responding to Akahata, JAL said that it decided on an increase in cabin crew numbers “based on the lessons learned from the fatal collision at a Haneda Airport runway on January 2.”

The Haneda crash killed five Coast Guard personnel, but all passengers and crewmembers on the JAL aircraft escaped unharmed. The Airbus A350 had nine CAs on board for eight emergency doors. It is pointed out that this may have saved the lives of the passengers.

In the case of Boeing 787s, however, it is possible to have only seven CAs, fewer than the eight exits on the aircraft. This is because the national standard for CA assignment is one per 50 passengers. Since a Boeing 787 has less than 300 passenger seats, seven or even six CAs are permissible.

In this year’s “shunto” spring labor offensive, the JAL Cabin Crew Union, the JAL Flight Crew Union, and the JAL Union, together demanded that the company increase the number of CAs on board.

The JAL decision to deploy more CAs on B787s in response to the labor unions’ demand is an important step toward ensuring passenger safety.

However, JAL’s operation manual does not change the minimum number of crewmembers to be on board. If cost cutting becomes the company’s top priority, the number of CAs may return to the previous number. The government should raise the national minimum standard to prevent this and should require the recommended number of CAs made by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on all airlines, which is to place a CA for each exit.

Past related articles:
> As demanded by union, JAL to deploy more CAs than aircraft doors to improve safety [May 18, 2024]
> Union calls on gov’t to increase number of flight controllers based on lessons learned from fatal Haneda Airport collision [February 8 & 10, 2024]