Please tell me why airline pilots and flight attendants do this.

[FLYBOYSWA2900 0]

When watching videos of pilots or flight attendants speak about their lives on videos on youtube, they all have one thing in common, except for a select few if it is an advertisement, or a pilot life story, and the video is shot by the company. None say who they work for. For example, instead of saying, "I work for Southwest Airlines and fly 737 aircraft," they will say, I work for a major low cost carrier in the United States, and fly 737 aircraft," and never mention the name of the company they work for. Why is this? Any pilots or flight attendants on here who can tell me why crew members do this?

Thanks, Alexandre Trahan.

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

Probably for privacy reasons.

[JustanotherPilot 219]

......and avoid lawsuits if they say something, act in a manner ,contrary to policy, which would bring discredit to said Company.

[jon b 2,046]

I fly a big jet for a big U.K. airline....😉 which has a strict social media policy, as I guess do most airlines. Strictly speaking I’m not meant to comment on things related specifically to my job. They’re very cautious about things being obtained by the media, when the BA 777 had the incident at EGLL a few years ago the press took that captain apart, with the help of social media.

I’m due to retire in about 18 years at which point I’ll return and tell you some very interesting stories !

 

[psolk 3,040]

Not just pilots...  Most people in the professional world keep their work affiliation out of social media.  Most companies also scour the web for mentions and you don't want anything coming back to you in the end.  Just the smart thing to do...

[tttocs 301]

2 hours ago, psolk said:

Not just pilots...  Most people in the professional world keep their work affiliation out of social media.

Indeed.  I spent almost 20 years with a major tech company, and that's exactly the way I've always referred to that job in online communications/social media.

Scott

[BillW 210]

The appearance of advertising in a documentary or a snippet about the individual is pretty much taboo.

 

[busdriver 258]

 

I tend to try and hide what airline I work for, but given the type of airplane I fly, and my base, most could probably figure it out. 🙂

I do this for privacy, more than anything else...

[JNS 106]

In today's world I'm surprised the question was asked.

 

Edited October 6, 2019 by JNS

[FLYBOYSWA2900 0]

On 10/4/2019 at 4:55 AM, jon b said:

I fly a big jet for a big U.K. airline....😉 which has a strict social media policy, as I guess do most airlines. Strictly speaking I’m not meant to comment on things related specifically to my job. They’re very cautious about things being obtained by the media, when the BA 777 had the incident at EGLL a few years ago the press took that captain apart, with the help of social media.

I’m due to retire in about 18 years at which point I’ll return and tell you some very interesting stories !

 

I like what you did there! XD. I get it now! All makes perfect sense!

[fluffyflops 1,856]

On 10/4/2019 at 5:22 AM, FLYBOYSWA2900 said:

When watching videos of pilots or flight attendants speak about their lives on videos on youtube, they all have one thing in common, except for a select few if it is an advertisement, or a pilot life story, and the video is shot by the company. None say who they work for. For example, instead of saying, "I work for Southwest Airlines and fly 737 aircraft," they will say, I work for a major low cost carrier in the United States, and fly 737 aircraft," and never mention the name of the company they work for. Why is this? Any pilots or flight attendants on here who can tell me why crew members do this?

Thanks, Alexandre Trahan.

because crews are told over and over and over and over and over again not to post pictures of facebook sitting in engines or fartiing about with your phone mid flight.

But because the new generation instagram f/os from L3/Oxford seem to be 19 years old and stupid, and the cabin crew spend their life on youtube doing make up tutorials the companys have to inforce it.

Ive lost count over the last 5 years how many times ive seen rosters of both f/o's and cabin crew with "meeting / offfice) on the rosters, being brought in for tea and no biscuits  for the above, they are obessed by social media.

The airlines where alot better before rich kids from l3/oxford turned up and the upper age limt for cabin crew was 21 not 18,   they used to be decent in my day.

Edited October 13, 2019 by fluffyflops

[fluffyflops 1,856]

It never ceases to amaze me what my colleagues in crewing / Rostering have to deal with nowadays with 18 year old cabin crew and 21 year old f/o's

It's nothing like 10 years ago.  The crewing guys are literally babysitting these kids when the f/os start crying down the phone they have failed an annual line check or the cabin crew  'don't get on well with the seniors'. Because they got their report time wrong as they where livestreaming their journey in on the Gatwick express.

As I always say come sit in with me for an hour or two in ops you head will be spinning and you'll never get on a plane again. 

Edited October 13, 2019 by fluffyflops

[HighBypass 2,339]

On 10/13/2019 at 10:44 PM, fluffyflops said:

...'don't get on well with the seniors'. ...

Would that be OAPs?

Old Age Passengers, or Old Age Pilots? :)

Actually, joining you for an hour or two in ops sounds like an interesting and fun educational visit 

[FLYBOYSWA2900 0]

On 10/6/2019 at 1:50 PM, JNS said:

In today's world I'm surprised the question was asked.

 

Looking back on it you're right. That was a dumb question! 😂

[Chock 17,769]

I do know that two companies I've worked for in aviation (service agents Aviator and Menzies Aviation) do ask employees to be cautious concerning things such as social media posts on especially any current events which might have a negative impact on the company's reputation. It's just common sense for them to do that. Notable examples were when Thomas Cook went belly up (Aviator being their service agent) and more recently when the same occurred with FlyBe (Menzies being their service agent).

Most people are generally unaware that the people they see working on and around their airliner are contractors to the airline and not specifically part of that company, which you might suppose would be obvious from the prominent logos on the vehicles and high vis jackets, but since all service agents occasionally borrow gear off other companies from time to time, there is no guarantee of this. That is another reason for the general rule of not wanting employees to talk about any potentially negative stuff, and always be on their best behaviour when working, since anything negative carries the risk too, of reflecting on a client or even a company you don't actually work for.

A good example of that occurred a couple of years ago with Swissport (another well known service agent) at EGCC. A ramp employee was seen throwing bags onto a baggage trailer and they were sliding across the trailer and falling off the back of it (this can happen, the curtains on those trailers often have broken fasteners). Nevertheless, the guy was filmed from the aeroplane by a passenger and the video made it onto youtube and was picked up by social media and some newspapers and TV news. In that case, I know exactly what went on; the ramp agent had just prior to that, had a phone call informing him that a close family member had unfortunately died, and rather than the duty manager immediately telling the guy to go home, the guy instead was sent out to unload an aeroplane. Needless to say his mind was not on the job, and so you can hardly blame him for not being on his best form, but of course none of that can be known from the video footage, and so the company very publicly made it known that they had dismissed him in order to distance themselves from the incident and also distance the airline from it too, but it was nevertheless not a well received decision among everyone working at the airport who knew the full extent of the story, and when you knew the facts, it seemed to us that the wrong guy had been sacked.

It was a salutary tale for anyone who does that job. But even prior to that, we would always make sure that we know there is a good chance a passenger will be filming us when we work on and around aircraft and so always do things right. That is in fact why I not only always carefully inspect the aeroplane when doing a walkaround, but also make a bit of a show of being seen to do it as well, because I know passengers will be observing it. Similarly, if I find something questionable which needs attention, I do my best to not make it obvious, for the benefit of any nervous passenger who might conclude something is desperately wrong with their aeroplane.

Having said all this, most people will be aware that I quite often post stuff about things which go on in my job, however, I am careful to not put anything which would or might possibly reflect badly on my employer, for these very reasons. We have to bear in mind that we are, like it or not, a representative of the company we work for and should conduct ourselves with that in mind. A great example of this with airliner crews is that you sometimes see (on youtube), nutters who film themselves asking the flight crew idiotic stuff as they disembark. Quite a few 'flat earthers' have done this and claimed some really stupid stuff concerning aeroplane operations, quizzing bemused captains and first officers on these matters in an occasionally somewhat belligerent manner. Of course it would be tempting for these crew members to simply say something rude and tell them to stop bothering them when they are busy, but you never see that; instead they are well aware that they are the face of the company and so they remain polite. Of course you know the moment they are off camera and back behind the cabin door, they'll say what they really thought of the nut job, but they'll always smile and be polite for the camera when its rolling.

Edited March 22, 2020 by Chock