“Japanese hospitality, or omotenashi, is so unique that it does not depend solely on prescribed scripts or manuals as to what needs to be done, but rather on careful observation as to what the guests want and being responsive to those needs. Sensing our customers’ needs and responding to our customers is precisely what our flight attendants have been trained to do well.

“But omotenashi goes beyond that, for it involves making recommendations to guests,and having the repertoire of knowledge to make relevant suggestions. Finally, although often referred to as Japanese, it does not mean Japanese style per se, but the Japanese hospitality spirit that is being used to serve customers from around the world.”

“JAL Bedd Sky Auberge, with the purpose of serving exquisite restaurant standard cuisine on board our flights, works very hard with nine renowned Japanese chefs, engaging them from menu planning to the selection of ingredients, and in making sure that the delicate dishes served 30 thousand feet above ground is equally as superb as what our star chefs serve in their restaurants.   

“Being conscious of our Malaysian guests, I would recommend our Japanese menu, Jun Kuroki, named after the Iron Chef who owns Kuroki in Yushima. For those looking for a more Western bite, Chikara Yamada (who was trained under Ferran Adrià of the world famous El Bulli) and Naoki Uchiyama, who is also our corporate chef, have both formulated and curated a selection of Western dishes on the menu. The JAL Bedd menu by these three highly talented chefs are available on our business class from Tokyo to Kuala Lumpur.”

“We know that time is precious to our customers, and whatever is precious to our customers is equally precious and important to us. All our customers travel for a purpose and we know that air travel is just part of that journey. If arriving on time helps fulfill that purpose, then yes, we should always endeavor to be punctual.”

“A very long list of behind the scenes efforts, starting from schedule planning all the way to the very last minute task of identifying passengers not boarded at the airport boarding gate. This requires a lot of good cross-functional teamwork and concerted effort, but I think the most important ingredient is the shared value amongst all employees that our customers’ time is precious.”

“The results of the TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Awards come from travellers’ reviews, and we are therefore extremely grateful to all the travellers who have kindly shared their experience on JAL. The Award is a huge encouragement to us and we shall, as a premium airline, endeavour to continuously improve our products and services. We have for the past few years invested heavily in improving customer experience.

"For example, where high-density economy class has become the industry norm, we did the opposite of creating more spacious economy class seats. For that JAL was awarded in 2017 the best economy class airline by Skytrax.”        

“One of our off-duty flight attendants, in noticing an elderly lady looking troubled and lost because her flight home was cancelled due to bad weather, willingly offered her assistance without hesitation, helped that elderly lady arrange an express train, and even went with her to the rail station. This episode made me feel proud of working with such warm-hearted colleagues in JAL. It also made me realise that service is not an activity or something to do, but something to be.”

“I am proud to say here that our JAL Wider cabins (ranked No 1 by Skytrax in 2017) offer the best economy class seats. But to fully appreciate the JAL experience, one has to combine together all the other features -  the enjoyable in-flight meal, the clean cabin interior, the wide choice of in-flight entertainment and the hospitable flight attendants, just to name a few.

“For travellers who wish to have a greater level of comfort, I would recommend our premium economy class, which was designed using our business class seat development concepts.”

“So if I had 30 seconds to pitch to someone, (and I think I actually did this on several occasions), I would ask that person to spend 25 seconds thinking of the best airline experience he or she has ever had. I will then ask which airline it was, and if the person has flown JAL before but the reply wasn’t JAL, I will buy that person a sumptuous lunch. So far, I have not had the chance to buy anyone lunch this way, and I hope it remains so.”

“In our constant quest for improvement and innovation, we are currently working on several technology-enabled initiatives. In my opinion, and as a general view, because we live in a highly digitalised world where many products and services (in both B2B and B2C) are modularised, and where customers can now cherry pick value offerings that best help them personalise their own value ecosystem, airlines will need to collaborate more with capability providers in order to deliver customised experiences. Hence I think we are entering very interesting times and I am confident that JAL will play a leading role in customer experience innovation.”

Akira Mitsumasu joined Japan Airlines in 1989, and has previously been responsible in the company for passenger services, network planning, international affairs, business development in China and internal auditing, before taking on the role from June 2014 as VP for marketing and strategy research of JAL's Asian and Oceania region.  Akira holds an MBA from the University of Oxford and a DBA from Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, where his research was on Japanese corporate groups. He has also published a book titled Control and Coordination of Subsidiaries in Japanese Corporate Groups.

Akira was awarded the Greatest Marketing Influencers 2016 by BBC Knowledge, Asia’s Best Marketer 2016 by CMO Asia, Most Influential Global Marketing Leaders 2016 by World Marketing Congress, and Best Leader in Marketing Strategy 2016 by Global Brands Magazine Award.  

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