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Enough is enough: Japanese airlines clamp down on abusive travelers

PUBLISHED MON, JUL 1 20248:50 PM EDT

Monica Pitrelli@HTTPS://WWW.LINKEDIN.COM/IN/MONICAPITRELLI/@MONICAPITRELLI

Japan’s two largest commercial airlines are toughening their stances against travelers who verbally or physically abuse airline staff.

Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways updated their websites Friday with “customer harassment” policies, in the wake of rising instances of front-line worker abuse occurring across industries in Japan.

Using similarly worded language, the two airlines cited nine behaviors that constitute “harassment” under the policies, including:

1.     Abusive language, aggressive tone, insults, discrimination, slander

2.     Threatening words or actions

3.     Excessive or unreasonable demands

4.     Assault

5.     Deeds which disrupt business operations (prolonged detention, excessive repetition of requests or complaints)

6.     Unpermitted entry to workplace

7.     Deeds which deceive its employees

8.     Slander against the company or its employees on social media and the internet

9.     Sexual harassment

ANA’s customer harassment policy also includes voyeurism, stalking and indecent behavior — a jarring reminder of the situations that airline employees can face in an industry that often sees travelers behaving at their worst.  

The policies are meant to address a lack of clear standards which has made it difficult for employees to handle customer interactions, ANA’s Yoshiko Miyashita, vice president of CS promotion, customer experience management told Nikkei Asia.

“This has placed a significant burden on our employees, leading to cases where some have been forced to take leave,” she said.

Japan Airlines’ policy also mandates airline staff to undergo harassment training — employees will be provided manuals detailing how to quickly and appropriately respond to “malicious” behavior.

“We have also established aftercare support for our staff’s physical and mental health,” according to the airline.

Both airlines’ policies state that travelers who harass employers will be issued a warning, after which consequences can include denial of boarding and police involvement.