Photo/Illutration An image of customer harassment at an airport (Wataru Furuya)

NARITA, Chiba Prefecture—A group of service workers at Narita International Airport here is letting air travelers know that customer harassment will not be tolerated.

The Narita Airport customer satisfaction council has formulated a basic policy stipulating a “firm response” to customer harassment at the airport.

According to Narita International Airport Corp. (NAA), which is the secretariat of the council, this is the first time that an airport in Japan has clearly stated its policy against aggressive acts by customers. 

The basic policy by the council, which is a group of 29 organizations involved in customer service at the international airport, lists nine specific examples of customer harassment.

They include loud, abusive, or discriminatory remarks; intimidating or threatening language or behavior; excessive demands; unreasonable requests; physical assault on persons or property; requests for or attacks concerning personal information or individuals; sexual harassment; conduct that interferes with work; and intrusion into work spaces.

The basic policy states that these are “only examples and (acts of harassment) are not limited to those listed above,” and that it will take firm measures to deal with these issues.

The council decided to formulate the basic policy because customer harassment, which has become a social problem, has become a regular occurrence at the airport.

This year, the council surveyed 20 companies at the airport, such as airline companies, passenger information services, transportation companies, security inspection companies, tenants, cleaners and others.

All of them responded that their workers had experienced harassment by customers.

Some forms of harassment were unique to airports, such as unauthorized photography and demands for money for “missing a flight.”

NAA President Akihiko Tamura said, “There are several cases of (customer harassment) a week.”

According to Tamura, the number of Japanese and non-Japanese harassers are about the same.

There have also been cases of employees leaving their jobs due to harassment, he said.

In June, All Nippon Airways Co. (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) jointly compiled a policy for dealing with customer harassment.

An increasing number of other companies are also taking their own initiatives.

However, many have called for a unified stance by Narita Airport on the issue.

Starting from around August, the council began a full-scale study of the growing problem.

In formulating the basic policy, the council said it had taken into account the possibility that perceptions of customer harassment may differ depending on nationality, cultural background and other factors.

A representative of the council said, “We will promote efforts to address customer harassment in cooperation with businesses at the airport.”

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