
A twerking flight attendant who went viral when she posted a video of herself dancing in uniform at the back of a Boeing 737 has set up a GoFundMe page after Alaska Airlines terminated her employment over the stunt.
Nelle Diala had only been employed by the Seattle-based airline for six months when she caught the world’s attention in December by posting a 15-second clip of herself posing and twerking on an airplane.
Wearing the distinctive Alaska Airlines uniform, along with knee-high boots and a YvesSaintLaurent handbag slung across her, Nelle’s video caused quite the commotion and a rapid internal investigation into her social media posts.
Nelle has now explained what happened after she posted the video, saying she was “wrongfully” fired by Alaska Airlines without being given a chance to defend herself.
“One day, during a layover, I posted a lighthearted video on my personal social media account. It was a harmless clip that was recorded at 6 am while waiting 2 hours for pilots,” Nelle says on her fundraising page.
“I was also celebrating the end of probation and making it out of a hard upbringing in San Francisco,” Nelle continued. “The video went viral overnight, but instead of love and support, it brought unexpected scrutiny. Although it was a poor decision on my behalf, I didn’t think it would cost me my dream job.”
A spokesperson for Alaska Airlines said the carrier does not comment on personnel issues.
Carriers like Alaska and Delta Air Lines generally ban crew members from posting anything on social media that could cast the airline in a bad light or have a negative impact on its brand image – the rule applies whether the crew member identifies themselves as an employee or not.
To avoid the potential for conflict, Persian Gulf carrier Qatar Airways long banned flight attendants from posting images or videos of themselves on personal social media accounts.
That ban was lifted nearly a year ago, although other international carriers, like Singapore Airlines, still impose similar restrictions.
Nelle says she was quickly hauled into a management meeting where Alaska Airlines accused her of violating its strict social media policy. “I explained that the video wasn’t intended to harm anyone or the company, but they didn’t want to listen,” Nelle says.
“Without warning, they terminated me. No discussion, no chance to defend myself—and no chance for a thorough and proper investigation.”
The loss of her job has been “devastating,” and Nelle says she is now finding it impossible to find another airline to hire her as a flight attendant – a role that she loved working in.
Of course, many flight attendants like to share photos and videos of themselves in uniform, but many airlines have very stringent social media policies that can be a treacherous tightrope to walk. Just one misjudged post can land crew members in a lot of hot water.
Mateusz Maszczynski honed his skills as an international flight attendant at the most prominent airline in the Middle East and has been flying ever since... most recently for a well known European airline. Matt is passionate about the aviation industry and has become an expert in passenger experience and human-centric stories. Always keeping an ear close to the ground, Matt's industry insights, analysis and news coverage is frequently relied upon by some of the biggest names in journalism.
they know better.
Who is “they?” Fat butt Gen Z TikYok addicts?
She knew exactly what she was doing, now all a sudden she wants to play victim . She was just putting herself out there to set-up her Onlyfans account…you’ll see!!
So fat and ugly!
Your off probation. Did you contact your union rep to fight for your job?
I am a flight attendant with a major US airline with 35 years of seniority and feel a bit sorry this happened yet also a bit supportive that Alaska Air management made the harsh decision to terminate Miss Diala. Back when I went through initial training we did not have social media to deal with; however we were told over and over that we REPRESENTED the airline in uniform and we were to act with the highest social grace and politeness. We could not drink alcohol, sit in a bar, lick an ice cream cone or even chew gum in uniform! The TWERK dance looks very suggestive and vulgar in my opinion. It is basically a dirty dance move that has extreme sexual overtones. Of course we all know SEX SELLS – but this type of dance cheapens and degrades all Flight Attendants and makes us look like slutty opportunistic vixens. It’s too bad this crew member was made an example of, yet maybe now others will think twice before attempting the same attention-getting stunt.
The trash took herself out. She posted it (knowing she was violating social media policy), Company gave her a chance and told her to take it down and she did for a bit then decided to give them a 🖕🏻and repost WHILE STILL ON PROBATION, but ‘Hey, let me change the narrative to fit my sob story better’🙄