Flight attendants at United Airlines are being reminded to be ‘mindful’ and ‘respectful’ on social media following a slew of high-profile incidents involving crew members at the Chicago-based carrier, including a gay Catholic flight attendant who was fired for allegedly liking transphobic posts on X.
In a timely memo, the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) said crew members should be aware that with technological advances, they can quickly be identified as flight attendants for one of the largest airlines in the world even if they don’t actively mention what airline they work for.
“We should always be cognizant that anything we share on social media is NEVER truly private,” the memo cautioned, warning flight attendants that they could land themselves in a lot of trouble if a connection can be made between a controversial social media post and their job as a flight attendant.
Ruben Sanchez, the gay, catholic flight attendant, was fired by United after the airline discovered he reposted and liked posts on social media about the transgender movement, which argues that the transgender movement is distinct and does not further the ‘LGB’ movement.”
Sanchez never actively identified himself as a United Airlines flight attendant on Elon Musk’s X where he liked and shared these posts, but he had once shared a photo of himself in uniform carrying a pilot across his shoulders.
In a lawsuit filed last month, Sanchez accuses United of attempting to “exercise complete and unfettered control” over his social media accounts.
The airline is also facing a lawsuit from another ex-flight attendant fired by United Airlines for running an OnlyFans account. The carrier accused Alexa Wawrzenski of using spicy photos posted to her Instagram, alongside photos of her in uniform to promote her OnlyFans account.
United’s broadly written and all-encompassing social media policy, ‘Working Together,’ encourages flight attendants to share their lives on social media and act as free brand ambassadors for the airline while simultaneously warning them not to post anything that could negatively affect United’s family-friendly reputation and brand image.
The flight attendant union is now encouraging its members to take their social media accounts private. Influencer flight attendants must be especially cautious as the slightest mistake that creates a potential conflict of interest could immediately jeopardize their jobs.
As for cheeky comments on United’s own social media posts, flight attendants should be aware that the airline can sometimes does identify online personas as employees to take disciplinary action.
Of course, this isn’t the first time that flight attendants have been warned about the increasingly fraught relationship between work and social media.
Earlier this month, an ex-Emirates flight attendant was accused of getting the entire crew from one flight in serious trouble after she posted a revealing behind-the-scenes video of a flight to Shanghai on YouTube.
Popular YouTube video creator Amanda King created a fascinating look inside the world of being an Emirates flight attendant, including a trip to Shanghai, where she brought her boyfriend along.
During the video, Amanda revealed that she had taken her boyfriend into the restricted crew bunk area during a flight, and baked a cake for her colleagues while swapping her assigned jumpseat to be closer to her boyfriend and videoing the location of emergency equipment.
It was reported that although her colleagues knew what as going on, they never reported it to the company, and this was used as a reason to take disciplinary action against them despite the fact that Amanda had already resigned from the airline by the time she posted the video.
