A couple of months ago, I wrote about how Qatar Airways reportedly banned a YouTuber after he shared a negative review of a flight. Well, that same YouTuber has now found himself in an even worse situation with another airline.
Aero Dili posts Josh Cahill’s passport online
This incident involves Josh Cahill and Aero Dili. For context, Josh Cahill is a popular YouTuber who reviews flights, while Aero Dili is a small airline based in East Timor, which was founded in 2017.
In September 2023, Cahill took a flight on Aero Dili from Bali to East Timor, which he posted about on YouTube. He described the flight as a “disaster,” as he had issues at check-in, and then he claims he got “the worst food poisoning” from the flight.
Recently the country manager for Aero Dili, Acacia Mota, made a post on Facebook about Cahill with some wild claims. He states that Cahill reached out before his flight, asking for a free flight, free accommodation, a food allowance, and $50,000 in cash, in exchange for a positive review.
Those are some outrageous claims, so what proof did Mota provide? Well, instead of sharing a screenshot of the alleged extortion attempt, he shared a picture of Cahill’s passport, with all the details showing. Cahill isn’t sure how he got that picture, though it may have been from during check-in (given that there were issues), or from his arrival in the country.
Cahill reached out to the airline regarding his passport being posted online, but the airline never responded. So Cahill then reached out to law enforcement in East Timor, and was informed that the country has no data protection laws, so what the airline was doing wasn’t illegal, and therefore the airline was within its rights.
Cahill states that the airline could post the passport and credit card details of any passenger online without any punishment. Aero Dili is supposed to start flights to Singapore shortly, so Cahill is asking his viewers to reach out to Singapore’s Minister of Transport to encourage him to block this flight, given the disregard that the airline has for basic data protection standards.
You can watch the 10-minute video about what happened below…
My take on this Josh Cahill & Aero Dili situation
Not only is Aero Dili being incredibly unethical here, but the airline’s behavior is also beyond stupid. Here you have a YouTuber with a large audience who can capitalize on this kind of stuff, and you’re going to give him this kind of bait? And the airline thinks it’s going to come out of this looking good?
Think what you may of Cahill, but I 100% believe him when he says that the accusations by the airline are completely baseless. C’mon, he wanted a free flight, a food allowance, and $50,000, in exchange for a positive review, from a small, national airline? No, that’s totally made up. And I love how the “proof” provided comes in the form of completely violating his privacy. This is absurd, plain and simple.
Now, I’m sure people will have mixed opinions here, so let me acknowledge a couple of things. First of all, I think those who say that Cahill is often overly dramatic and is seeking out drama aren’t off base, to put it politely. But that’s all the more reason the airline shouldn’t do something so incredibly stupid, which will only bolster his popularity and bottom line.
Having gone back and watched the original review, I don’t think Cahill comes out looking good with how he interacted with the station manager, as he was quite aggressive and pointing his finger. While I understand his frustration, that’s never how you get what you want. Regardless, that it no way excuses what the airline did.
Bottom line
YouTuber Josh Cahill had a bad experience flying with Aero Dili, and posted a review about it. The airline took revenge on him by claiming he demanded a $50,000 bribe for a positive review, and supported that claim by posting a full picture of his passport. No matter how dramatic Cahill may be, this is completely unacceptable behavior from an airline.
What do you make of this situation between Josh Cahill and Aero Dili?
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