Delta Passenger Stunned After Sex Scene Plays in Front of His Young Kids On Airline’s Own Movie Service

A passenger on a Delta Air Lines flight was advised to contact law enforcement and report a seatmate for potential child sex crimes after he watched a movie with a sex scene in front of the passenger’s eight-year-old kid… but here’s the catch: The show was provided on Delta’s in-flight entertainment.

The program in question is Paramount’s Golden Globe-nominated drama 1923, starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, which serves as a prequel to Yellowstone.

Several major international airlines license content from Paramount+, including British Airways and LATAM. Content from the streaming platform has been available on Delta flights since 2023.

‘Contact Law Enforcement To Report Child Sex Crimes’

“On a flight with Delta Air Lines, and the dude in front of me is watching a full-blown sex scene in plain view of my three kids. This is a movie provided by Delta Air Lines as part of their in-flight entertainment package,” one disgruntled passenger wrote in a post on LinkedIn.

“That is so freaking lame. Can anyone else who thinks that’s ridiculous and/or has more LinkedIn clout than me, like or share this to see if we can make ourselves heard?” the passenger continued.

“It cannot be cool for a 50-year-old dude to watch graphic sex scenes next to my 8-year-old daughter, right???”

In response, one person wrote: “Contact law enforcement. Depending on the circumstances, the man may be charged with sex crimes if children were exposed to it. Airlines headquarters need to be contacted as well for the same reason, as they supplied the material.”

The original passenger, however, says he has no malice towards his seatmate, explaining that there’s a chance the man never knew a sex scene was going to happen.

“Maybe he just froze and didn’t know what to do, or maybe he just felt awkward or couldn’t find the off button in time,” the passenger wrote. “I have no malice towards him. Who knows what was going on with him? Just a dumb unforced error by Delta.”

Delta Contacts The Passengers Offers An Explanation

In a follow-up post, the man revealed that Delta had been in contact, explaining:

“On a more moderate note, someone from Delta Air Lines reached out and was really cool and kind. He seemed genuinely mortified as a dad about what is shown on flights.”

“I guess the crux of the issue is the movie studios’ [have] total inflexibility around allowing their movies and shows to be edited in any way, even if just to remove sexually explicit content. So, Delta is left with mostly take it or leave it as their current options.”

Before airlines started to negotiate direct license agreements with film studios, it was common for movies and TV shows that were shown on in-flight entertainment to be edited by content distribution companies supplying the airline industry.

Anything deemed too sexually explicit or violent was removed, although airlines do have some say over quite how far they want the editing to go.

Airlines Get Their Inflight Entertainment From A Handful Of Distributors

Airlines still work with these big content distribution companies, including the likes of Stellar Entertainment, which counts the likes of Australian flag carrier Qantas, Eva Air, and Thai Airways amongst its customers.

Spafax is also another big content distributor that has contracts with well-known airlines like British Airways, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, and Qatar Airways.

Meanwhile, Delta uses Florida-based Touch Inflight Solutions as its exclusive content service provider. Other Touch customers include Air New Zealand, WestJet, and SAS.

Generally speaking, you’ll find that Middle Eastern carriers are far more likely to want more editing than carriers based in Europe and North America.

One Airline Has Added Privacy Screens To Address This Issue

Earlier this year, Israeli flag carrier El Al became the first airline in the world to install ‘privacy screens’ on its seatback monitors across its Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet to prevent a passenger’s seatmate from seeing what was on their screen.

Airlines are often praised when they invest in installing larger, high-definition seatback screens, but the obvious issue with that is that it’s become a lot easier for passengers to accidentally see what everyone else is watching.

The El Al solution means passengers can happily watch a movie or show of their choice without fear that it might upset their seatmate.