On August 28, a Japan Airlines Honolulu – Nagoya, Japan flight was delayed because the captain decided a night at the hotel bar was more important than preparing for duty. He called in sick at the gate, admitting he’d been drinking the night before.

And because of how JAL reshuffled crew to get the Boeing 787-9 out, three separate flights were delayed inconveniencing a total of 630 passsengers.

To get flight JL793 out, JAL borrowed the cockpit crew from the later Honolulu – Tokyo Haneda flight. That stranded the Haneda rotation.

JL793 HNL → NGO (B787-9 JA874J)
• Sched dep: Thu 14:20 → Actual dep: Thu 16:28 (+2h08)
• Sched arr: Fri 17:30 → Actual arr: Fri 19:13
• Load noted by JAL: 239 pax (incl. 2 infants), 12 crew (2 pilots, 10 cabin).

JL71 HNL → HND (B787-9 JA876J)
• Sched dep: Thu 16:35 → Actual dep: Fri 11:16 (+18h41)
• Sched arr: Fri 19:45 → Actual arr: Sat 13:53.

JL71 HNL → HND (the next day’s rotation, B787-9 JA875J)
• Sched dep: Fri 16:35 → Actual dep: Sat 10:56 (+18h21)
• Sched arr: Fri 19:45 → Actual arr: Sun 13:49.

Bureaucrats at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism showed up at the Japan Airlines Tokyo headquarters — presumably to ask why this keeps happening. Because it does.

In April 2024, a pilot made a scene at his U.S. layover hotel, getting warned by local police. In December 2024 two pilots out-drank themselves before a Melbourne–Tokyo flight, delaying the flight 3 hours after failed breath tests. And in January 2025 two pilots lie about their drinking nd got suspended up to 7 months. The airline’s CEO and Chairman took a 30% pay cut for two months, with safety oversight stripped from the chairman’s duties.