Cabin crew at British Airways have been forbidden from taking any photos of layover hotels in popular locations like the Maldives, Cape Town, and Singapore in the Heathrow-based carrier’s latest social media clampdown.
In a new edict, cabin crew have been told to wipe any existing photos or videos of layover hotels from their social media accounts, even if they are private, over fears that terrorists could use AI tools to pinpoint where British Airways staffers stay.
Aircrew have long been banned from publicly posting or discussing the names and locations of layover hotels, both in the UK and Europe, as well as across the rest of the world, but until now, photos and videos of hotel rooms and buildings were permitted.
British Airways’ new social media rules, however, bar pilots, cabin crew, or any other airline employee from posting photos or videos anywhere in a layover hotel or crew transport.
The airline told staffers that it had been compelled to make the change because someone with suspect intentions could use sophisticated computer software to analyze even an innocent-looking background to identify the hotel and location.
The new rules effectively ban:
- Popular GRWM (Get Ready With Me) videos taken in hotel rooms and bathrooms that show crew makeup routines.
- OOTD (Outfit of the Day) videos that showcase crew putting on their uniforms ahead of a flight.
- Sunbathing photos at a hotel pool or private beach.
- Group photos taken in a grand hotel lobby.
The new ban comes just over two years after British Airways introduced strict new rules on cabin crew posting social media content while in uniform or aboard planes.
In February 2023, British Airways told pilots and cabin crew that they faced disciplinary action if they posted any content of themselves while professionally engaged” in their job.
That clampdown was reportedly in response to a growing trend of cabin crew publicly documenting their lives at work, conducting security checks, serving passengers, and unwittingly disclosing sensitive information that could pose a security threat.
Following backlash over the policy, British Airways said it still welcomed crew sharing photos and videos on social media so long as they wore their uniforms correctly and only when they weren’t meant to be working.
The iconic photo of cabin crew sitting inside an aircraft engine was barred as part of the policy, as well as galley time-lapse videos, anything that showed the inside of secret crew bunk facilities.
In its latest update, British Airways told flight attendants that it wanted to “eliminate all risk” and all photos of layover hotels, no matter how generic, were no prohibited with immediate effect.
Crew have been asked to trawl through their social media accounts and delete any photos or videos that were taken within the grounds of a layover hotel or crew transport.
Even taking a photo of the room from a hotel room could land crew in big trouble under the new policy.
In a statement, a spokesperson for British Airways told us: “The safety of our people is really important to us and as a responsible employer, we’re continuously looking at how we can improve their security.”
Matt’s take – This seems like an overreach
I’ve known for a long time that airlines are very sensitive about disclosing the names and locations of hotels where their staff stay, and I have always been very careful not to publish these details.
That being said, this new policy seems like an overreach, especially in the context that this puts British Airways at odds with nearly every major international carrier that isn’t trying to overwhelmingly control the social media content of its employees.
This almost seems like the kind of policy that Qatar Airways (which famously banned crew from posting any photo of themselves in uniform) would introduce. Instead, Qatar Airways has recently taken a far more relaxed approach to social media content as it seeks to improve employee morale.
I understand why airlines don’t want the names and locations of their layover hotels being shouted about, but these details are hardly a secret. It’s not exactly like flight attendants arrive at layover hotels incognito and many big cities have one or two hotels that win the bulk of airline contracts.
In other words, where airline crew is hardly a secret.
