A popular YouTuber with over 680,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel claims a small airline based in East Timor posted a photo of his passport online and fabricated bribery claims about him because he filmed a negative flight review.
Josh Cahill, a 37-year-old German vlogger, who was permanently blacklisted by Qatar Airways late last year after he posted another negative flight review, is now speaking out against Aero Dili, an airline with just two aircraft.
Cahill flew between Denpasar, Bali and Dili on Aero Dili’s single Airbus A320 last year and made a video of his experience with the airline. Things got off to a bad start when he was initially unable to check in for his flight in Bali, but then Cahill claims he was served contaminated onboard, giving him food poisoning.
In the nearly half-hour-long YouTube review, Cahill confronted Aero Dili’s country manager in Bali after he allegedly turned late for work just when Cahill needed his assistance to help him check-in.
Cahill says Aero Dili wasn’t keen to have him onboard and “tried everything to let me with them”.
Cahill argued with the station manager during his initial flight review video, accusing the manager of hiding in a toilet to avoid speaking with him. Eventually, however, Cahill was issued a boarding pass and was allowed to fly.
During his review, Cahill called out Aero Dili’s ‘dated’ looking cabin and said he expected things to go wrong before being served an inflight meal that Cahill claims gave him food poisoning.
In response to Cahill’s review, the Aero Dili country manager wrote a Facebook post about the YouTuber, claiming Cahill had contacted the airline ahead of his flight, requesting a slew of bribes in exchange for him posting a positive review.
Allegedly, Cahill requested a free flight, free accommodation, a food allowance, and a cash payment of $50,000, but the only proof the country manager could provide was a picture of Cahill’s unredacted passport on a public Facebook post.
Cahill denies the claims and says the country manager fabricated the allegations.
Cahill complained to the airline, but when Aero Dili didn’t respond, he contacted law enforcement in East Timor over a potential breach of data protection laws because all his personal details were leaked in the photo of his passport.
Authorities in East Timor told Cahill that the country does not currently have any data protection laws and, as a result, the airline manager had not broken any rules.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) does, however, lay down strict data protection rules for airlines to follow, but Aero Dili is not currently a member airline.
Cahill is seeking another legal redress against the airline and is also hoping to pressure Singapore’s government to bar Aero Dili from starting a new route to the city-state.
Last year, Cahill claimed Qatar Airways had offered him free flights to remove a negative flight review in its Economy Class. Cahill says the Doha-based airline blacklisted him when he turned down the offer.
Guy is clearly a narcissist who stirs the pot to get clicks. He better be careful who he continues to instigate because some of these authoritarian countries are the definition of FAFO.
he makes great airline video from the start till end but it is all about complaint 99.9% of the time on all trips. i get about 80% but all flight he takes is bad?
He wants to “pressure the Singapore Government”?? Who does he think he is? As if the Singaporean Government would need his input when allowing an airline to fly or not. I’m starting to believe he would ask for bribes in exchange for a positive review.
How else would the manager know to avoid him in a remote area.
I think that Cahill should apply to one of the major modern airlines for a flight attendant role, and if he gets through the selection process, see how he feels after going through the exhausting training proess, and then see how he feels after 6 months of night flights and minimum rest short-haul … all the time having to manage the ludicrous expectations of the average flying passenger, in onboard working conditions which make the job very difficult, i.e., minimum work space and equipment not always fit for purpose … once he’s done this, I think he might then be entitled to make his videos.