Throughout the years, flight attendant use of social media and personal devices has been a consistent source of industry debate.
While some airlines will allow their cabin crew to read or do a quick scroll through their phone during taxiing or quiet moments on the flights, others have proven much more uncompromising. United Airlines (UAL) recently sent the 26,000 flight attendants who work for the airline a memo threatening "discipline up to and including termination" for anyone caught on their phone on the job. Other crackdowns include airlines that try to limit flight attendants who share stories from the job on social media or the use of TikTok due to its connection to the Chinese government.
Related: Delta Follows Southwest In Surprise Social Media Ban
Across the ocean, Finland's flagship carrier Finnair (FNNNF) ran into legal trouble after firing a flight attendant who had been using Wi-Fi intended for customers to access the internet.
Finnair ordered to pay hefty sum after some flight attendants fired, others warned
The airline provides free Wi-Fi to customers who enter their name and seat number into the airline's system. As there is no separate connection for flight crew in order to avoid them being on their phones while at work, many a flight attendant has used the passenger flight records to quietly log in and check their social media.
More Travel:
- A new travel term is taking over the internet (and reaching airlines and hotels)
- The 10 best airline stocks to buy now
- Airlines see a new kind of traveler at the front of the plane
This behavior has been so prevalent that, as initially reported by local newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, Finnair made the choice to fire employees found to have logged in this way more than 36 times, a total of 22 employees. Another 101 were given warnings that they could be next if they did not stop logging in.
One of the flight attendants who was terminated took Finnair to court and, in its decision, the District Court of Helsinki found that that over 700 employees had actually used Wi-Fi in this way while the airline's policy was unevenly enforced.
The court ruling ignited a wider debate over flight attendant social media use
The Helsinki court ordered Finnair to pay the flight attendant it terminated 21,000 Euros (roughly $22,770 USD). While the final decision ultimately focused on the fact that some flight attendants who were using airplane Wi-Fi in this way were given warnings while others were fired, the flight attendant also argued that logging onto the internet caused no harm to passengers while Finnair created this need for crew to find these roundabout ways by not providing them with Wi-Fi.
Finnair, in turn, had argued that flight attendants who use Wi-Fi in this way do cause harm to both the company and its customers. In its crackdown on staff internet use last month, United also made a similar argument about how flight attendants who use their phones even during quiet moments ultimately appear unapproachable to clients.
"How comfortable would you be asking someone for help if they were engrossed in their cell phone?" the airline wrote in the memo to its flight attendants. "What impression would that give you?"
While the court ruling in Helsinki did not take aim at the policy itself but rather at how it is enforced, the wider debate on whether a strict "no phones ever" policy is either enforceable or effective.
