How likely will I or my luggage miss a tight Japan Airlines connecting flight in NRT while travelling from Southeast Asia to the US?

Question

I have booked a flight from SIN to LAS, with connections at NRT and LAX, on a single ticket. This is ticketed by American Airlines, but the operating carrier for both the SIN->NRT and NRT->LAX sections is Japan Airlines. My transit time at NRT is exactly one hour, which is tight, and any delay getting to NRT is probably going to make me late for my next flight.

Usually, a one hour connection where both legs are long international flights is risky, but most flights from Southeast Asia to the US on Japan Airlines have tight connection times, and it seems that this is by design.

How likely is it that I or my luggage miss my connecting flight at NRT? Does Japan Airlines usually hold back the outbound flight to wait for connecting passengers?

(First side question: If I or my luggage does indeed miss my connecting flight at NRT, who is responsible for getting me to LAS - the ticketing airline or operating airline?)

(Second side question: Entry for foreign tourists into Japan is currently not allowed due to COVID, but if everything goes well this is okay, because I will never leave the airport. However, if I miss my connecting flight at NRT, what would happen?)

Answer 1

How likely is it that I or my luggage miss my connecting flight at NRT? Does Japan Airlines usually hold back the outbound flight to wait for connecting passengers?

With the connecting flight confirmed as JL 62 (AA 8408) from NRT to LAX, it can be concluded that missing the connection is highly unlikely. I have flown this route from Southeast Asia to North America — and similar ones — a number of times starting in Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, or Taipei.

In general, Japan Airlines runs a tight ship and a one-hour connection in Narita is common. If all goes as designed, and it almost certainly will, you barely will enter the airport. There will be a person with a sign from the gangplank telling you which direction to go, there will be a security scan (the queue will make you nervous, but it will go quickly enough), and finally you will head to your next flight.

Recently, JL 62 has been delayed many times; it has departed late 18 times in the last 30 days. This even improves your odds of making the connection. It very well may be that the airline is delaying departures to make sure that everyone on a single ticket from Japan Airlines or a codeshare partner makes the connection despite extra time needed for documentation checks, etc.

If I or my luggage does indeed miss my connecting flight at NRT, who is responsible for getting me to LAS - the ticketing airline or operating airline?

Try not to worry. Japan Airlines would make sure you get on a subsequent flight.

Entry for foreign tourists into Japan is currently not allowed due to COVID, but if everything goes well this is okay, because I will never leave the airport. However, if I miss my connecting flight at NRT, what would happen?

Unfortunately, you would be required to hang around in the departure terminal (airside) until your replacement flight. According to the Narita website, you currently can't hang out overnight airside, so it isn't clear what would happen if there were an extreme delay, but it is highly unlikely that you would be allowed to go to a quarantine hotel without a visa to enter Japan. Japan is a by the book kind of place and it isn't permitted by current regulations.

In early 2021, I had a scheduled seventeen hour overnight layover in Tokyo Haneda en route to Bangkok where I was confined to the then empty departure terminal with little more than a Pokémon vending machine for company. Those were strange days; with any luck you won't have to have a similar experience now.

Answer 2

How likely is it that I or my luggage miss my connecting flight at NRT?

You have a very good chance of making it, otherwise they wouldn't have sold you the ticket. A missed connection (passenger or bag) incurs significant cost for the airline so they know quite well that a "almost safe" connection time is. Some airlines go down to as little as 25 minutes (Austrian Airlines in Vienna). One hour isn't particular aggressive if you don't have to do deal with immigration and customs.

Does Japan Airlines usually hold back the outbound flight to wait for connecting passengers?

Unknown. Airlines policies do change over time and circumstances and they are not published. United used to be brutal: I once had a delayed incoming but still made it to the gate with maybe 2 minutes to spare (I can run fast). My boarding pass beeped red and I was told "Sorry Mr. L, we didn't think you would make it so we already gave your seat away". They have mellowed out recently but it's still hard to predict.

If I or my luggage does indeed miss my connecting flight at NRT, who is responsible for getting me to LAS - the ticketing airline or operating airline

Technically the "responsible" airline is on the hook, which in this case would be Japan. Chances are that One World has a process for this in place, so both AA or JAL would be able to handle it.

Entry for foreign tourists into Japan is currently not allowed ...

Not sure about this specific case, but there is typically a process in place. If you need to stay overnight, they would probably cart you to a quarantine hotel, where you can stay but are not allowed to leave the premises. I've seen that for cases where a passengers got stranded but didn't have documentation to enter (re-enter) the country.

Answer 3

I've completed that trip, and had an un-ordinary experience.

The night before my trip, I looked at FlightAware to check how often my flight was delayed, and, lo and behold, my flight (i.e. the one for the next day) was now scheduled to depart at 10:00 am, which is two hours later than the original departure (as per the email sent by American Airlines at the time of booking) of 8:00 am. I was unable to check my booking on the Japan Airlines website, but could do so on the American Airlines website - and I saw that they rebooked my NRT->LAX and LAX->LAS legs onto later flights, giving me a 1h 30min connection in NRT and a (longish) 5h 15min at LAX.

I didn't get any email from either of the airlines at any point in time informing me of the change in schedule. When I turned up at Changi at 8 am (instead of 6 am), I found the check-in queue to be fairly empty (presumably because many people thought the flight would leave at 8 am). They told me that they delay was because of crew-related reasons (apparently one of the cabin crew members was sick). They printed my boarding passes for all three legs (for the updated flights which I saw on the American Airlines website) and handed me a free packed breakfast as an apology for the delay.

I later found that the NRT->LAX flight that I was on, while not the same one as my original flight, was delayed for about an hour or so, presumably so that the passengers from my SIN->NRT flight would still be able to make it to the US without too much delay. It also appeared that the NRT->LAX flight I was on was the only connection to the US for those from my SIN->NRT flight that day - there were some people who originally had an SIN->NRT->SFO itinerary that ended up on my flight to LAX (i.e. they ended up flying SIN->NRT->LAX->SFO).

So, in summary:

1. It's possible that the SIN->NRT flight gets delayed so that you miss your connecting flight to the US.
2. If you miss your connecting flight, they will try to put you on another flight to the US without that much of a wait in NRT.
3. You might end up entering the US via a different airport than planned, which may cause you to need to take an additional internal flight within the US.
4. Japan Airlines will give you a free meal when your flight is delayed.
5. Check your ticketing airline's website when nearing the flight date to see if there are any planned changes to your itinerary.