yabadoo

Understood, but, a key component of FA's job role is safety (and is probably their first priority above all), and being able to communicate effectively without help in an emergency situation with passengers is critical, whether it be a medical situation or organizing an evacuation, hence being able to understand and being understood clearly and correctly without repeating yourself is of paramount importance. I have spent time in Japan and also other non-English speaking countries and I understand the environment they have to work in. Sometimes people have anxiety speaking with you because it's more effort for them, so this come across as being shy or hesitancy. In Japan in particular, they don't want to be seen as making a mistake or error, and then being either laughed at or criticized so people just don't say anything or minimize their interaction with you, or they just ignore you as it's easier to deal with. I get it that in Japan English is not needed to work and live, however for those still in school it's going to become increasingly more important and quality of teaching and learning of English skills will be an asset to people in the future.

Final word on this, all is acceptable and there are many, many airlines in the world where cabin crew struggle with English, so nothing new. However, what I do not excuse JAL for is their written English translation skills, on their website, on printed material, at the airport, you can find so many instances of incorrect translation or spelling and grammatical errors, surely they can hire someone or some company to make sure all their public communications are upto standards, because otherwise it kind of reflects poorly on them.

kentauta

Unlike casual conversations, I don't think there are too many kinds of instructions FAs need to give in emergency situations, and they memorize all those for sure (Yes, medical emergency is different, but it can use help from crew, pax ,or ground). Of course, just shouting commands they memorized may not lead to the safest exit from emergency, and fluency in English will definitely help to deal with complex and unpredictable situations, but I wonder if we really need that when air travel is so safe these days. That might be a subjective question, but one is always free to avoid Japanese carriers if that's a concern to them. We live by managing risks rather than minimizing all risks after all.

The mistake despising culture a real retarder in Japanese society in my opinion. It incubates narrow- & short-sighted workers whose main interest is not making errors everyday rather than achieving big and long-term personal/professional goals despite some bumpy roads on the way.

I am pretty sure that their English education is improving, but I don't think I will see their FAs speaking English like SQ FAs do in near future unless they hire a lot more from other countries.

Yes, they have less excuse for their poor written English. This is a low-hanging fruit for them.

yabadoo

Agree on a few points, but I do think that safety is number one and it's for that reason that fluency and proficiency unaided by others is important. Yes, flying has become safer but in those instances where there is an event last thing you want to hear is passengers could not understand the FA. Anyway, moot point.

Yes indeed, this micro focus on small issues and errors is distracting and conditions the average worker into becoming nothing but a rule follower. I have had this issue at work where I will get comments about insignificant and immaterial issues but they will miss the big picture entirely, that conceptualization ability and strategic mindset is simply very weak, but otherwise great at following instructions and rules.

jysim

Apologies for being a few years late to this discussion, but some things are too interesting not to share.

There is actually a large Cantonese-speaking Malaysian Chinese population in KUL, which I think is a reason for HKG-based crew. Similarly PEN has a large Hokkien-speaking population, which is largely similar to Taiwan.

I think CX, SQ, MH etc appeal to the Western public partly because they used to be colonies, and British colonies to be precise. While the idea of hospitality varies individually, I think a certain grasp of language and expectations are necessary. With a headstart in English among the general public, and cultural influences early on, made native crew of CX, MH, and SQ more in tone with the west, as compared to, say JL, NH, BR, CI.

I agree. Being a Malaysian in Taiwan, I see my fair share of grammatical errors and terrible spellings on public venues and exhibitions that I decided to share them on Instagram occasionally. My Taiwanese S.O. told me his friends thought I was an arrogant know-it-all. But when you pride yourself as the emerging Asian democracy, the island of resilience, a friend of the world, surely you could spend a few hundred dollars to get your signposts or exhibit boards spellchecked? I think this is a common problem in East Asia, as people think nobody would read the English version, and spent minimal effort doing the translations. It does reflect poorly on them and unfairly too.

mjm

I agree with this supposition, yes. When I lived in Singapore I was surrounded by Westerners who felt they were in paradise. Great Asian service and all provided in fluent (or the Singaporean variation) English. I never quite understood what was appealing about people from elsewhere adopting the mannerisms, familiarity, etc of a place I had left behind. I know it had great appeal to several of my peers there but to me, not so much.

I always felt it refreshing to return to Tokyo, be immersed in a level of sophistication that if I had to point to a place in in the West I find to be similar would be Vienna. A couple month ago as I boarded a flight from NYC to Tokyo, I recall feeling, "Ah, finally" as I walked down the jetway. Language-wise I am perfectly comfortable in Japan, leading to an understanding and appreciation those who are not may lack. Which of course adds support for your supposition.

All of that I guess is to say, "Horses for courses".

minizian

I guess so too but currently on my recent flights this year it was fully crewed by all Japanese until recently like 1 or 2 month ago where they have 3 Thai crew in place of HKG crew which i assumed unable to make it due to strict quarantine rules there. I remembered last time i blurted Cantonese to the HKG crew during meal they were like quite surprised I can speak the language

Wonder how things would be if it was staff by Singaporean crew base which I think its more relatable than say Thai or Hong Kong crew which they did many moons ago with Japan (I think its Osaka or Nagoya) to SIN then KUL. (eg the banter between Singaporean and Malaysian)

I think you will get a shock of your life if you return to KUL, English proficiency is going down the drain as compared to many years ago. Heck even Malay language also started to use more and more loan word from English with some changes to spelling

jysim

You do know most "Singaporeans" who work for the airlines are in fact Malaysians, right?

Just like to add that I met a wonderful Taiwanese crew, Kelly, on my HND-TSA flight 3 weeks ago. As my last name is not common in Taiwan, she asked for my Mandarin surname, which I thought was a clever conversation starter. While pouring champagne she remarked that the rose looked almost the same as the seasonal Sky Time (peach and grape) sitting beside it.

Yes, I hope the new kabinet gets down to work quickly

minizian

You mean jal singapore base crew are mainly Malaysians?
If so, I do not know about this part..
I do know this is very very true for SQ

Nice that you are able to experience Taiwanese hospitality onboard Japanese carrier, maybe she knew you can speak mandarin hence the conversation starter.
Likewise I believe the same will apply to Japanese crew if one can speak the language.
From my experience, foreign base crew at times will over-perform their Japanese co-workers.
Either way, I'm sure they have challenges in understand my accent

Lets see how they do before someone decide to take things for themselves by initiating hotel backdoor entrance

ma930407

It appears that overseas based CAs are now assigned to long haul flights - NRT-KOA by BKK CAs; DFW-HND by TPE CAs; NRT-MEL by BKK CAs. Their service is exceptional on my recent flights with JAL.
P.S. the Japanese economy class supervisor on JL773 NRT-MEL (10 Apr) was very rude (to my surprise)! First time I see a JAL crew bowing to the wall of the galley rather than to passengers when the welcoming announcement / safety video is played. While other crews were super friendly assisting passengers, she leaned on the cabin wall doing nothing but just loudly commanding the other crews to do everything. Feel bad for the other crews who have done an outstanding job (in particular the BKK based CAs) - they clearly showed their embarrassment because of the attitude of their supervisor.

prathetkrungthep

Probably because I'm Thai, but I absolutely love flying JL and having BKK crew on BKK-TYO. It's always a happy surprise to also have a BKK crew member on TPAC. Having someone speak your language, providing quality service with decent catering, and a good hard product on the aircraft, are things that I could only ever dream of experiencing on TG.

ma930407

Are London based crews only serving JL43/44 between HND and LHR? I've never seen London based crews on JL41/42.

CPH-Flyer

They are only on JL44/43.

ma930407

Rode JL42 last year and there were only Japanese crews. I believe it is different now.

CPH-Flyer

No, there are no change so far. Spoke to one of the London base crew members that I have met quite a few times, and there are currently no plans they know of to expand to JL42/41

Themissus

Hi, I a
​question concerning the location of the FRA and LHR cabin training crew accomodations back in 2007/08. I can't remember the location, but think it was in Narita back then. I'd really like to visit again, but lacking my memory to remember where exactly it was😜