Japanese airlines impose stricter rules on disruptive passengers.

Japan's two major airlines are becoming stricter in dealing with passengers who mistreat airline employees through verbal or physical abuse.

In response to the increasing incidents of worker abuse across various industries in Japan, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways updated their websites with new "customer harassment" policies on Friday.

The two airlines identified nine behaviors that are considered "harassment" under their policies.

1. Abusive language, aggressive tone, insults, discrimination, slander
2. Threatening words or actions
3. Excessive or unreasonable demands
4. Assault
5. Business operations can be disrupted by 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

The airline industry is notorious for travelers behaving poorly, and ANA's customer harassment policy includes instances of voyeurism, stalking, and indecent behavior, which serves as a stark reminder of the challenges that airline employees face.

Yoshiko Miyashita, vice president of CS promotion, customer experience management at ANA, stated that the policies were created to address the lack of clear standards, making it challenging for employees to handle customer interactions, as reported by Nikkei Asia.

This has put a considerable strain on our staff, resulting in instances where some have had to take time off, she stated.

Japan Airlines requires its staff to receive harassment training, and they will be given manuals outlining how to handle "malicious" behavior promptly and effectively.

The airline has set up aftercare support for the well-being of its staff, both physically and mentally.

Both airlines have policies that state that harassing employers can result in a warning, which may lead to denial of boarding and even police involvement.

Et tu, Japan?

The number of air rage incidents in the US increased from about 10 per month before the pandemic to around 500 per month in 2021, with most cases involving face mask compliance, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Since then, incidents have decreased rapidly, but "recent rises indicate there is still much work to be done," as stated on the FAA's website.

While Western airlines have experienced a higher rate of "air rage" incidents, Asian airlines have seen fewer such incidents, mainly due to disputes over crying babies and in-flight rules.

Even in Japan, known for its politeness, patience, punctuality, and precision, Asia-based carriers are not immune to passengers.

On June 5, a Japanese passenger caused a 40-minute delay on an Eva Air flight departing from Fukuoka after she berated China Airlines' staff members for not speaking her native language.

An American man in his middle age was reportedly the intoxicated passenger who bit a flight attendant on an ANA flight returning to Tokyo in January, according to The Japan Times.

In response to increasing customer harassment in Japan, municipalities and companies are implementing tougher employee protection measures.

Local media reports that some city and prefectural governments are removing employees' names and photos from their name tags to prevent personal information from being leaked online.