The Problem
United Airlines has come under public scrutiny for a variety of incidents that revealed inconsistency in policies and aircrew training – from forcing a pet into an overhead compartment where it died to physically dragging a doctor off a plane.
Now United Airlines is placed on the 2019 Dirty Dozen List, which names 12 mainstream contributors to sexual exploitation, for systemic outbreaks of inappropriate aircrew reactions to sexual harassment on their airplanes.
Sexual harassment includes but is not limited to, unwanted sexual advances or attention including physical actions, speech, and viewing pornography in-flight.
While cases of these actions have occurred on virtually every airline, United Airlines aircrews have apparently received ineffective training due to consistent failures in addressing sexually harassing actions, speech, or pornography-use.
For example, United Airlines appears to have struggled with protecting flight crews and passengers alike from sexual harassment.
Sara Nelson, a United Airlines flight attendant and president of the union, told CNN, “In my 22 years as a flight attendant, I have never taken part in a conversation — in training or otherwise — about how to handle sexual harassment or sexual assault.” CNN continued: “While policies exist, Nelson says that if they’re not elevated in airlines’ training, flight attendants are at a loss for what to do when confronting inappropriate — and sometimes criminal — behavior.”
Further, United Airlines appears to be chronically ill-prepared to address the growing problem of pornography on airplanes and the ensuing culture of sexual harassment that this fosters. 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 A) are consciously aware the policy exists or B) know how to enforce it.
When this lack of clarity and training exists, United aircrews have resorted to giving alleged “hush” money or even openly joking about a case of sexual harassment. This leaves passengers vulnerable and isolated to endure a toxic sexual environment without recourse.
It is vital that United Airlines institute in-person, annual, trainings for flight crews with tactics to respond to the full spectrum of sexual harassment and abuses. These trainings must be informed by experts in the field.
WARNING: There are graphic images and text descriptions shown in these sections.
POSSIBLE TRIGGER.
Proof
United Airlines Policy on Watching Films Rated R or Above
On the United website, it notes that content should only be watched if it has “an MPAA rating of “R” or less” and requests passenger discretion so that “children seated near you aren’t able to see scenes with violence or adult themes.”
We request that United updates this language here, and elsewhere so that it is visible when a passenger purchases their ticket, to specifically note that “pornographic content, whether in magazine, image, or video format” is prohibited to view during a United flight.
Further, it appears that United does not consistently edit nudity out of the movies it shows on planes. For example, below is a scene shown on a United Airlines airplane in January of 2019.
Take Action
How To Report Suspected Sex Trafficking While On A Plane
Are You A Survivor of Sex Trafficking?
Public Health Harms of Pornography
Help educate others and demand change by sharing these on social media:
Updates
Progress
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation Applauds United Airlines for Improving Its Policy and Removes It From the Dirty Dozen List Washington, DC (February 3, 2020) – The National Center on Sexual Exploitation applauds United Airlines for changing its in-person flight attendant training to include the issue of passengers using
Your voice matters! With hundreds of messages flooding into United Airlines’ Customer Service line this past year while the corporation—which employs over 85,000 people worldwide and flies over 150 million customers a year—was listed on the 2019 Dirty Dozen List, United has now stepped up to combat in-flight sexual harassment and pornography
The Stop Sexual Assault and Harassment in Transportation Act was introduced today by Rep. Peter DeFazio, and endorsed by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, a non-partisan nonprofit in Washington DC. Alarmed by incidents of sexual assault and harassment occurring in public transportation—especially on airlines—NCOSE has long advocated for the
