I really don’t envy the position that airlines are in when it comes to their social media policies, and how some flight attendants are incapable of using good judgment. A former Emirates flight attendant has now caused some of her colleagues to be reprimanded, as reported by PYOK. I think the airline is 100% in the right, and had no choice but to take action.
In this post:
Emirates flight attendant breaks all kinds of rules in vlog
Working for the Gulf carriers can seem pretty glamorous, and many people seem motivated to get the job in order to become an influencer, since they want to show off the glamorous lifestyle.
An Australian named Amanda King has a sizable social media following, and briefly worked as an Emirates flight attendant. About eight months ago, she published a “behind the scenes” video of what it’s like to be an Emirates cabin crew, including the things that you don’t see as a passenger. The video got a lot of traffic, and as of now, has been viewed over 1.2 million times.
Here’s the thing — Emirates actually has one of the more liberal social media policies, as flight attendants are allowed to post content in uniform, within certain (reasonable) guidelines. Those guidelines can be summed up as “use common sense,” like not letting this interfere with your job, and not showing off anything you shouldn’t be allowed to do.
King’s vlog was about a trip she worked to Shanghai, where she took her boyfriend along. I’ve gotta say, she actually seems like a pleasant person, and for the most part, I think passengers would find this video to be quite interesting and positive. However, the video depicted some things that are just explicitly not allowed. In some cases they violate company policies, while in other cases they violate international aviation policies:
- King shares how another crew member let her swap jump seats so she could sit near her boyfriend; this is a big no-no at the airline, as flight attendants must sit in their assigned jump seats, because they each have specific safety duties to look after
- Before landing, King gives her boyfriend a tour of the crew bunks; again, this is strictly prohibited, and not just a violation of airline policies, but of international aviation regulations (there’s even signage on the bunks indicating that this isn’t allowed)
- Then there are some things that are questionable, but perhaps not explicitly prohibited, like her showing off safety equipment, showing how to unlock the lavatory, and even baking a cake in the galley for the crew, as a thank you for putting up with her bringing her boyfriend along
You can see the video for yourself below.
Well, it seems that the higher-ups at Emirates were made aware of this, with another flight attendant suggesting that “because of one YouTube video whole crew was fired.”
Now, it’s my understanding that this statement isn’t at all correct. No crew members get fired, though some crew members were reprimanded, and received a warning. These would be the crew members who basically helped her break these rules, like swapping jump seats with her, etc.
Emirates is handling this situation correctly
What King is doing here is so common nowadays — someone gets a job for a year or two as a flight attendant at a glamorous airline, and they record a lot of content. Then after they leave the company, they publish some of the more questionable content, and also do coaching for how to become a flight attendant at these airlines.
Unfortunately in this case, her actions were just downright selfish. She had nothing to lose by publishing this video, I suppose, since she was no longer at the airline. But that’s not the case for her colleagues.
There’s simply zero justification for publishing a video where you show yourself violating not just airline policies, but aviation regulations as well. The airline is completely in the right for holding anyone who was involved with this accountable. Let me emphasize that unlike what’s being reported elsewhere, no one was fired, though warnings were issued.
It really is a shame how people aren’t capable of using good judgment. Emirates is extremely open to flight attendants using social media, but despite that, it’s my understanding that people are frequently terminated over their behavior there. And that’s how it should be, as there should be no tolerance for flight attendants violating regulations. Once you start making compromises on safety, it’s a slippery slope.
One would hope that people would learn their lesson and act differently going forward. But of course there’s a never-ending stream of people who are new to the industry, and who social media clout over following policies.
Bottom line
A former Emirates flight attendant has caused her colleagues to get in trouble, after she published a “behind the scenes” video of a trip she had while working at the airline. While there’s nothing wrong with that as such, what is problematic is what she showed off, including bringing her boyfriend into the crew bunk during the flight, which violates aviation regulations.
Emirates deserves credit for its open social media policy. The issue is that this requires using good judgment, and that’s something that’s lacked by all too many people.
What do you make of this Emirates “behind the scenes” video situation?
I think Emirates Airlines as a company is in the right. The lady behaved in an inappropriate manner and posted her video AFTER she left the company. No other crew members were fired, nor should they be.
Who is filming her the whole time? It's not just the BF, as the video shows someone filming her (with what looks like a very high-quality camera) behind the scenes at DXB and doing pre-boarding checks.
If another crew member is wandering around filming her while she works, then that person should have been fired. Not only is it absurdly unprofessional in front of passengers, but the person filming should have been working, not creating content.
Wait a second, lots of YouTubers and bloggers have received tours of crew bunks, and I don't think all of them were on the ground?
I was just thinking the same thing too
I tried to read your article but ads kept popping up all over the place and the article kept moving up and down and after three times of trying to find where I was in the article and all the craziness of the screen moving I finally gave up. Ridiculous!
There actually was intention to bake a cake! It wasn't a reward for the peer support received to do all her social media stuff. it almost sound as thought the whole swapping, on board visits etc and social media accounts were intentional. If I knew a cabin crew member is actually waiting to finish all their duties to bake a cake, rather than check the cabin is all right, I would feel unsafe. Image a...
There actually was intention to bake a cake! It wasn't a reward for the peer support received to do all her social media stuff. it almost sound as thought the whole swapping, on board visits etc and social media accounts were intentional. If I knew a cabin crew member is actually waiting to finish all their duties to bake a cake, rather than check the cabin is all right, I would feel unsafe. Image a pilot doing all sorts of other stuff instead of concentrating on the duty and safety of 350 +++ passengers... phew...
Imagine if she had a girlfriend and not a boyfriend...hoo boy! Emirates can go suck a lemon, as well as Qatar and Etihad.
This is the most biased account of this situation I have seen so far. What happened to unbiased journalism?
Interesting how the TikToker you have featured (trelemorale1) is also a former Emirates employee who resigned after 5 years due to burnout. She is now making videos on the back of Amanda's success and is painting Emirates in a much worse light (e.g., her comments on her videos about the airline) than Amanda did. Amanda...
This is the most biased account of this situation I have seen so far. What happened to unbiased journalism?
Interesting how the TikToker you have featured (trelemorale1) is also a former Emirates employee who resigned after 5 years due to burnout. She is now making videos on the back of Amanda's success and is painting Emirates in a much worse light (e.g., her comments on her videos about the airline) than Amanda did. Amanda always spoke so highly of Emirates, even when she drew the short straw on accommodation etc. In terms of rectifying Emirates' bad PR as an employer, they would have done well to harness Amanda's social media for their benefit. Instead, they fired a whole crew for the mistakes of a singular person, further damaging their reputation.
What poor, poor decisions Emirates are making in terms of PR and marketing.
You do realise that Ben is a blogger & not a journalist?
They’re there for my safety and they failed. Any who knew of the FAs antics with the boyfriend and didn’t report it needed to be fired. The possibility that the FA would have shown favoritism
or expected/demanded favoritism over other passengers from the crew for the boyfriend in the event of an emergency cannot be tolerated.
So why didn't she go work for Qantas instead, being Australian and how they really like their home carrier? O, maybe because Qantas isn't as glamorous as a ME3, maybe that's the awakening needed by those who keep complaining about the ME3.
She should be fired straughtaway
She's not a nice person, she's a selfish entitled bitch. The video also shows her baking a packet cake mix in one of the onboard ovens, which is a fire hazard and strictly forbidden. She not only endangered the jobs of the crew she was flying with, she also endangered the entire aircraft. See you next Tuesday.
Hi Pete.
You sound insane.
And what's with all the hatred of women?
Actually, you can cook any sort of food as long as you use the correct oven-proof containers and monitor it regularly.
The issue is using the personal device during work (was a strict no-no form getting off the bus to on again after the flight) and showing non-crew to crew areas.
When I worked for EK, we weren't allowed to post almost anything on social media, and certainly not anything filmed during a flight....
Actually, you can cook any sort of food as long as you use the correct oven-proof containers and monitor it regularly.
The issue is using the personal device during work (was a strict no-no form getting off the bus to on again after the flight) and showing non-crew to crew areas.
When I worked for EK, we weren't allowed to post almost anything on social media, and certainly not anything filmed during a flight. Even photos on a not busy flight we had to ask permission from the purser, and they were to show our family only (example, picture standing at the bar if that was our work position, and no passengers. But had to ensure our uniform was perfect etc)
There's a reason she waited to post this until after she resigned - because she knew she would be fired if she did it while employed.
Crew have been fired for less in the past. And honestly with all the videos I see on Instagram and Tiktok lately... EK would do well to bring back the stricter policies. I was so sick of some crew ignoring the rules and fawning to make content while the rest of us worked hard.
There was one Instagrammer with a huge following- I flew with her a number of times and it was quite ironic to see her account vs how she was to fly with. Didn't stop complaining how much she hated the job, the passengers and how it was beneath her. But anything for those clicks!
Never trust a vegan.
Based
The crew who lost their jpb coz of her should file a case against her and get the compensation ,so should the Emirates airline.
In Dubai? Good luck with that, especially since she's probably not there anymore.
The crew members who actively helped her are adults and also responsible for their own decisions.
CRINGE CRINGE CRINGE
A total embarrassment to EK for hiring her in the first place!
She and her partner are simply dreadful!
Shame on u both and seems a lot wud agree with me!
Not sure at all but also depriving sleep could be a safety issue, since dining by 20:30 and wake up by 02:00 am day after no give proper and safe rest to face long distance flight.
She chose to get a job with an airline in a country where she isn't a citizen - on a work visa. And at that one that usually has fixed employment contracts. She signed social media policies and agreed to company restrictions when hired on. She violated company policy and published it (for profit) and filmed coworkers doing the same, all of whom had an obligation under their own employment contracts to either discourage or...
She chose to get a job with an airline in a country where she isn't a citizen - on a work visa. And at that one that usually has fixed employment contracts. She signed social media policies and agreed to company restrictions when hired on. She violated company policy and published it (for profit) and filmed coworkers doing the same, all of whom had an obligation under their own employment contracts to either discourage or report such behavior.
I have zero sympathy for any of those involved.
As a cabin crew, though at a different airline, absolutely nothing in the video seemed wrong to me (except the tour of the bunks).
Swapping jump seats is a very common thing at my airline. We are all trained the same way, and have the same safety knowledge, on another flight, you could be sat at the other position, so for us it’s not a big deal as long as the position is covered...
As a cabin crew, though at a different airline, absolutely nothing in the video seemed wrong to me (except the tour of the bunks).
Swapping jump seats is a very common thing at my airline. We are all trained the same way, and have the same safety knowledge, on another flight, you could be sat at the other position, so for us it’s not a big deal as long as the position is covered and the senior is notified. Though, if that is a company policy, she shouldn’t have said that aloud.
The baking a cake… we’ve all done it. I’ve baked cookies, and cinnamon rolls before whilst flying. Not that much of a safety hazard, as the ovens don’t get that hot, and have timers. But at my airline we are allowed to cook our own food in the ovens, so that could just be an EK company policy.
The bunks, I do get how that can be an issue.. but also, you can google images of the bunks easily. As long as she wasn’t advertising the entry code, and the aircraft was on the ground, I don’t fully see an issue with her showing her partner around? Yes it does say crew use only, but I believe that’s mainly as customers try to open the doors all the time thinking it’s a lavatory.
Overall, I feel awful for the crew involved to be fired due to a YouTube video.
Nothing involved (except Amanda’s actions if against company policy) should have been a fire able offence. At most should have been written up, and left at that.
This is why I’d never recommend working for the Gulf airlines. You’ll never have job security as they will terminate you for the absolute tiniest of issues.
Swapping jump seats should not be a fireable offence. We are all trained safety professionals.
@ BritishFlyGuy -- To be clear, the bunk tour was during the flight, not on the ground. And it's not that the whole crew was fired, but only those who went along with this.
And of course I'm not sure which airline you work for, but regarding the point about working for Gulf carriers, I think it's worth mentioning that British Airways has a much stricter social media policy than Emirates, right?
Swapping jump seats is only permitted during a flight for operational reasons (i.e. safety or service) Not because someone wants to sit closer to their boyfriend.
I just don't understand why employees of any company think they can do personal social media using their company's name or during their work hours. It doesn't matter the country, the employer or the industry. If you want to be a YouTube or TikTok content creator/influencer, quit your job and became a legit content creator/influencer.
I watched the video, and honestly, everything she’s doing seems normal to me. She’s just giving her boyfriend a tour of the plane, how is that a big deal? Showing the bunk bed area is prohibited? Sure, maybe passengers aren’t supposed to go up there, but taking a quick peek supervised by a flight attendant? And switching jump seats is considered a major violation? If she can still perform her duties, why does it matter?
...I watched the video, and honestly, everything she’s doing seems normal to me. She’s just giving her boyfriend a tour of the plane, how is that a big deal? Showing the bunk bed area is prohibited? Sure, maybe passengers aren’t supposed to go up there, but taking a quick peek supervised by a flight attendant? And switching jump seats is considered a major violation? If she can still perform her duties, why does it matter?
I’ve personally flown in the cockpit as a passenger just by politely asking (the whole flight). While this might be unheard of in the U.S, I had no issues on two European airlines a few years ago. I assume that’s also considered a massive “security breach” now. Sorry that some people actually enjoy life whether that’s baking a cake onboard or being fascinated by an airplane.
@ Reyyan -- So there are two separate issues here. The first issue is actually breaking the rules, and the second issue is publishing a video breaking the rules for the world to see.
You'll find that virtually all regulators have rules against non-crew members visiting the crew rest area while the plane is airborne, due to different procedures in the event of an emergency.
We can argue that's not a big deal, and that's...
@ Reyyan -- So there are two separate issues here. The first issue is actually breaking the rules, and the second issue is publishing a video breaking the rules for the world to see.
You'll find that virtually all regulators have rules against non-crew members visiting the crew rest area while the plane is airborne, due to different procedures in the event of an emergency.
We can argue that's not a big deal, and that's fine. But surely you'd agree that filming it and showing it to the world shows very bad judgment, no? Because if this is how they're breaking rules when they're filming, what's going on when stuff isn't being filmed?
Regarding your point about cockpit visits, keep in mind that not all airlines in Europe actually have rules against visiting the cockpit inflight, so rules weren't necessarily broken.
I think the idea is that safety policies can't be compromised on, even if there isn't a major risk. Let me give an example. What's actually wrong with having a glass of wine while driving, if it's your first drink and you're under the legal limit? Does it really matter whether you have the glass before you drive, or while you're driving? Yet one is viewed very differently than the other, no? I don't think there's a police officer who would give that a "pass."
More specific to aviation, what about pilots who smoke in the cockpit? Should there be a zero tolerance policy to smoking? Is it really an issue if a pilot has just one cigarette, as we've seen on some airlines? Some airlines do tolerate smoking, and they're not typically airlines known for their good safety records.
This all goes back to the importance of a zero tolerance policy for safety in aviation. If serious aviation regulations exist, they need to be followed, and individual crew members shouldn't have the option of whether they feel like doing so or not.
Anyway, just my two cents, but I do see where you're coming from... :-)
Being allowed to sprnd the whole flight in the cockpit on a European airline is absolutely crazy, and yes, a serious breach that those crews absolutely should face discipline over…. Wtf.
"I watched the video, and honestly, everything she’s doing seems normal to me."
She is filming videos, which probably made her money from ad revenue and clicks, during work. That alone is cause to be fired. She had one job to do.
Frankly, if I ran an airline I would ban crew from using any personal cell phone during work. And I'd have special work-configured mobile phones or tablets that did not include social...
"I watched the video, and honestly, everything she’s doing seems normal to me."
She is filming videos, which probably made her money from ad revenue and clicks, during work. That alone is cause to be fired. She had one job to do.
Frankly, if I ran an airline I would ban crew from using any personal cell phone during work. And I'd have special work-configured mobile phones or tablets that did not include social media apps. I would also configure the in-flight wifi for crew to ban access to social media.
Really? Guessing your employee retention would be terrible, not exclusively to what you have mentioned, but by the other crap you would try to dictate.
Running some analytics and asking someone I know who makes well into six figures off YouTube annually... For her channel in the last year, on the low end she's made over $55,000 and high end is $100k. The things sort of multiply as you get more views... she also has shorts with tons of views (they pay less but you make up for it in volume).
If Interflug was still around, you’d have fit right in.
So she does things that are prohibited and puts them online. Just total stupidity and total unawareness of consequences.