Airline forced to train employees on dealing with inflight porn viewers

Young bearded man sitting inside an airplane and using a digital tablet. Close up of hands.
By Alexandra Coulton


We’ve all got our bad habits when it comes to air travel.

Whether it’s taking off your shoes when you perhaps shouldn’t, invading someone else’s armrest space or overindulging in the free alcoholic beverage service.

However, some bad plane etiquette is much worse than others.

Apparently, lots of passengers are choosing to watch x-rated content on their devices while flying. Well, enough people for one airline to introduce measures instructing staff on how to deal with the situation.

It’s being reported that United Airlines has had to introduce new measures to help flight attendants deal with passengers watching porn after they were called out by the US National Centre on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE).

According to NCOSE’s website, United Airlines was “chronically ill-prepared to address the growing problem of pornography on aeroplanes and the ensuing culture of sexual harassment that this fosters” and as a result, made the centre’s Dirty Dozen list, which calls out organisations for contributing to sexual exploitation.

“In recent years, incidents have soared of passengers viewing hardcore pornography on their personal devices in tight, closed quarters, leaving fellow passengers and flight crew feeling unsafe, emotionally triggered, and victim to sexual harassment,” NCOSE said on its website.

“While most airlines have a policy on paper against in-flight pornography use, they are not adequately training their in-flight crews or support staff to ensure they A) are consciously aware the policy exists or B) know how to enforce it.

“It is vital that United Airlines institute in-person, annual, training for flight crews with tactics to respond to the full spectrum of sexual harassment and abuses. These trainings must be informed by experts in the field.”

United told NCOSE in a statement that is has since strengthened its training “for flight attendants to recognize, address and respond to instances of sexual harassment of any kind on board our aircraft and will continue to adapt and enhance this training moving forward”.

“Sexual harassment, inappropriate behavior, intimidation or predation have absolutely no place anywhere in our society — including, and especially, in our industry and on our aircraft,” United said.

NCOSE has since removed United Airlines from its Dirty Dozen list.

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