British Airways has just updated its policy regarding how passengers can behave onboard flights, as flagged by PYOK, and it’s a sensible change that we’re seeing at an increasing number of airlines.

British Airways bans recording crew onboard aircraft

British Airways has just updated its general conditions of carriage. Specifically, in section 11a, which addresses unacceptable onboard behavior (or “behaviour,” as they say on the other side of the pond), the airline has added the following:

If, while you are on board the aircraft, we reasonably believe that you have filmed, live streamed or photographed our crew or other colleagues without their consent, we may take any measures we think reasonable to prevent you continuing your behaviour.

This goes on to say that anyone who violates rules surrounding behavior onboard aircraft may be subject to punishment, including being forced to leave the aircraft, the airline refusing to carry passengers on remaining sectors of the journey, or even involving law enforcement.

This seems like a fair, sensible policy change

There’s no denying that the way that people behave onboard aircraft has changed over the years. There’s an increasing number of people who take pictures and videos onboard aircraft, especially for social media. For that matter, some people think it’s appropriate to take pictures or videos of the crew if they have something they want to complain about, so this is intended to address that.

Adding these rules around onboard behavior seems totally fair, and if anything, I think the airline didn’t go far enough. As I see it, the rules should also indicate that you can’t film other passengers without their consent, since that’s also a reasonable courtesy.

Admittedly sometimes the line is blurred a little. If you’re taking a selfie on a plane to remember your holiday and there’s a flight attendant 10 rows back who appears in the corner of a picture, that shouldn’t be an issue. Meanwhile if you’re that influencer who was furious when a Qatar Airways crew asked him to stop filming them, well, I think that’s exactly the reason for this rule. 😉

Airlines have increasingly been updating their contracts of carriage to add these kinds of rules, as British Airways isn’t alone here, in having issues with this.

Bottom line

British Airways has updated its contract of carriage, to indicate that passengers aren’t allowed to take any photos or videos of the crew without their consent, and failure to follow those rules could have them removed from the aircraft, could result in a ticket being canceled, etc.

Unfortunately this is becoming increasingly necessary for airlines, given how onboard behavior has evolved.

What do you make of British Airways’ rule updates?