In-Flight Pornography Use
While most airlines have a policy on paper against in-flight pornography use, they are not adequately training their in-flight crews or support staff to ensure they 1. are consciously aware the policy exists or 2. how to enforce it. Because of this training failure, when someone watches pornography on a plane, nearby passengers are often ignored or even shamed if they complain to the flight attendants or ask to be moved to a different seat.
2018
On May 29th, a woman tweeted to Southwest Airlines in a desperate plea for help. The man sitting next to her was masturbating and watching pornography for the duration of her 5-hour flight. She tweeted about feeling powerless and unable to speak to flight attendants for fear of being further harassed by the man, who had already made lewd comments to her and reportedly had grabbed her arm at one point. Southwest did not alert the flight crew and reportedly offered her a voucher for a free dinner.
2017
Business owner and reporter Angela Zatopek saw a man openly watching pornography on a Delta flight. She confronted the man and brought the issue to the attention of the flight crew, but they told her nothing could be done and to file a complaint later online.
Would you like porn with those pretzels? @Delta didn’t address passenger who was watching porn last night, so I did. Extremely explicit material in plain view and I’ve researched MANY other similar cases where airlines are taking a backseat on complaints, how is this okay? pic.twitter.com/vDWtR1B2E8
— Angela Zatopek (@AngelaZatopek) December 11, 2017
2012
Our Executive Director Dawn Hawkins witnessed a man viewing graphic pornography of what appeared to be very young girls during a Delta flight. She confronted him, but at the time, the crew did nothing to address the issue.