llary

As a loyal CX customer I recently took a JL flight TPE-NRT-SFO in C to see what other OW airlines had to offer. They were full fare J tickets and my wife and I both have OW status.

I was a little disappointed by the four flights but racism was absolutely, positively not an issue. I think the problem with JAL for international travellers is that they are a little too Japan-centric but they are a Japanese airline after all.

For me the three biggest problems were seats, IFE and language ability of FAs. Seats and IFE are WAY behind carriers like CX.

The language ability of FAs was a big problem for my wife because she does not speak English and only the TPE-NRT segments had FAs that could speak Chinese at all. I got poked in the arm every two hours to translate for my increasingly frustrated wife.

I tried to make small talk with some of the FAs but their English level was just not good enough to talk about anything except inflight necessities. I asked one girl about how well they were doing on that route with paid tickets vs award pax. She tried her best and looked a little embarrassed but had no clue what I was talking about.

Service is inconsistent and FAs do not seem very good at noticing simple things such as empty water glasses. I really miss those preflight drinks on CX. However, if you call and ask for something explicitly the service is quick and efficient.

Some more positive points - food was very good and JL did a surprisingly good job to make us feel special as OW members. I had a personal welcome on 3/4 flights and we seemed to get our meal orders before most other pax.

At no point did I feel inferior to any other pax, in fact we seemed to get slightly better treatment due to status. Unfortunately while they have some good prices ex-TPE they are in a totally different league to CX and I don't think I would use them again. Sorry, JAL

JALPak

NRT-SFO should have chinese speaking cabin attendants on board. They have a slightly bigger name tag telling you where they are from.

ffs852

I think its a cultural misunderstanding. For some Japanese or Asians are somewhat reluctant to speak to foreigners due to language barriers, as the western culture tends to include alot of unrelated chit chat into everyday speech as an icebreaker or friendly gestures, and it complicates the conversation for them. If you're a New Yorker, you would certainly make references of how the Yankees are doing in your everyday speech, which means nothing to anyone outside of NYC.

Try and observe how the Japanese paxs speak to the FAs (especially the males). Usually its a polite, straightforward command or phrase without anything else. Remember Japanese/Asian culture is rather submissive or passive and it can be considered rude to be overly talkative, especially when in a service industry like an airline.

abraxis

I've seen that on UA as well.

JALPak

I have experienced (and got "screwed" by) FEBO protocol for meal choices few days ago But FEBO protocol isn't followed consistently. I was the first to get served on JL061 in C but when connecting on JL735 in Y, the upper deck crew started meal service from the back. I was the last one to get served and there was only the curry lab meal option left (I would have picked that option anyways ) I took JL701 in Y a month ago and meal service started from the front too (exit row got served first )

Not sure if cabin attendants are still adapting to the new protocol...

midtech

Ｔｈｉｓ is probably why the FAs avoid interactions with gaijin customers

BlissWorld

I just came across this interesting thread.

While what the OP described sounds appalling, I can assure you that for a minority in America, this is a daily occurrence, and not just on the planes.

People don't know what it feels like to be a minority until they experience it themselves. So, now you know.

These flight attendants probably experienced racism the moment they stepped into the states. A few months ago, an extremely polite Japanese woman was asking for assistant from the station operator at a NYC subway station and tried as hard as she could to throw out all the English vocabulary she knew. Instead, she was greeted with a stare and "ain't nobody know what's coming out of your mouth" I went over there to help her.

Can you blame them?

Get over it.