Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways Implement Tougher Policies Against Customer Harassment

In response to the increasing instances of customer harassment faced by frontline workers, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways have updated their websites with new "customer harassment" policies. These policies are designed to address and combat abusive and disruptive behavior towards airline staff, as observed across multiple industries in Japan. This move comes as a response to the rising cases of verbal and physical abuse towards airline employees.

Defining Customer Harassment

The updated policies of Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways clearly outline nine behaviors that constitute "harassment." These include abusive language, aggressive tone, insults, discrimination, slander, threatening words or actions, excessive or unreasonable demands, assault, deeds that disrupt business operations, unpermitted entry to workplace, deceptive behavior, and slander against the company or its employees on social media and the internet. Additionally, All Nippon Airways has included voyeurism, stalking, and indecent behavior in its customer harassment policy, highlighting the distressing situations that airline employees may encounter.

Impact on Employees

According to Yoshiko Miyashita, vice president of CS promotion, customer experience management at All Nippon Airways, the lack of clear standards has significantly burdened the employees, leading to cases where some have had to take leave. The airlines' efforts aim to provide the necessary support to their staff, including harassment training and aftercare support for their physical and mental well-being.

Consequences for Harassment

Both airlines have outlined the consequences for travelers who engage in harassment. These consequences range from warnings to denial of boarding and police involvement for severe cases. These measures are intended to safeguard the well-being of airline staff and ensure a safe working environment for them.

Global Context

While incidents of "air rage" have been on the rise globally, with the United States experiencing a significant surge in such incidents, similar occurrences have been observed in Japan as well. Notably, Japan, known for its emphasis on politeness and patience, has not been immune to such incidents. Recent cases include a passenger causing a delay on an Eva Air flight and an intoxicated passenger biting a flight attendant on an ANA flight.

Response from Authorities

As cases of customer harassment continue to rise in Japan, municipalities and companies are implementing stricter measures to protect their employees. Some local governments have started removing employees' names and photos from their name tags to prevent the online leakage of personal information and images of staff members.