Six years after I first wrote about the idea of airline video surveillance systems onboard, I find my opinion has changed very little. I’m still rather agnostic about the presence of cameras onboard, though I find many benefits that could justify their use in a space in which we have no expectations of privacy.
Airline Video Surveillance: Time To Put Cameras On Planes?
View From The Wing wrote about the use of cameras in the passenger cabin on EL AL Israeli Airlines. I suppose it is not surprising that the commercial airline that has missile defense systems would also place conspicuous cameras in the passenger cabin.
Inconspicuous? Cabin cam on recent flight. pic.twitter.com/eMGvyMgyIK
— Addison Schonland (@aschonland) July 2, 2023
Over the last few years, we have seen so much bad behavior on airplanes (so much more than I could have ever imagined in 2017). Often, there has been he-said, she-said type of situations and I do often wonder whether these situations may have turned out differently with a camera onboard keeping a video and audio record of the flight.
Would these cameras serve as a deterrent? Would these also keep flight attendants accountable or scare them so much that service levels could decline further?
Part of me thinks it is so pathetic that we have come a society totally dulled by our total lack of privacy. On the other hand, the ship has sailed…and the at least on a commercial flight in which we have seen so many reckless incidents, I do start to wonder whether cameras would be helpful.
So yes, I guess six years later I am about where was from the start: I’m on the fence about it.
My original story, from April 17, 2017, is below.
One particularly egregious story of onboard bad behavior has spawned many other tales. Every story is tantalizing. Every story is horrifying. But every story is contested. Is the solution to install cameras onboard planes?
Municipalities have responded to police abuses by mandating officers wear body cameras. This keeps law enforcement accountable but also eliminates countervailing narratives that can be easily discredited. We see cameras popping up on trains, busses, and in taxis and Ubers. If you’re in the UK, about the only place that doesn’t have CCTV is the loo…
So why not airplanes? Surveillance cameras will not eliminate poor behavior, but cameras may certainly mitigate it and at the very least quickly sort out truth claims.
We already see carriers like Cathay Pacific, Asiana, and Emirates that have “spy cameras” in first class used to monitor the needs of passengers. That’s how FAs seem to magically appear when you awake from a nap. Why not install cameras throughout the plane?
Union Objection
I can imagine that unions, particularly in the USA and Europe, might strongly oppose the privacy intrusion that cameras would require. Non-unionzed Delta experimented with cameras over a decade ago but abandoned the idea.
Certainly, these concerns can be appreciated. Even a CCTV system designed for “security reasons” could easily be used to monitor service standards and other non-safety items. While keeping FAs on their toes may lead to better service, it might also lead to more guarded interactions and a sense of unease that will be visible to customers.
Consumer Privacy Objection
Do we really want a camera that records our conversations, computer screens, and reading materials while onboard a plane? That records what we eat, how we drink, and what we are wearing?
Other Benefits
But imagine the system. When a passenger acts up, the captain can be notified, replay the footage from the Flight Deck, and make a call as to whether the passenger remains onboard or is ejected. If the passenger is particularly disruptive, footage can be forwarded to the law enforcement agency on the ground at the arriving airport prior to arrival. Something stolen? Camera footage can be used to apprehend the culprit or at least pinpoint suspects.
CONCLUSION
I’m on the fence about it, but only because it might mean the end of free bottles of wine and leftover business class meals for me when I fly economy class. In terms of safety and helping to defuse potentially contentious situations, I think cameras would do wonders.
“Time for Video Surveillance Onboard Panes?”
Window panes? A sheet of stamps? I’m confused.
I don’t see the point of this. Whenever there’s an incident there are 20 people recording it with their phones that have higher resolution and sound. Seems like an unnecessary intrusion on passengers.
My first instinct is to agree, but take UA3411 for a moment. Why don’t we have on video the moment in which the police stopped reasoning/talking and started acting. Did they lose their temper? Did Dr. Dao say something to trigger them? Or was it just over?
That was a while ago, since then we have seen more people willing to record what is happening on airplanes.
Spell check, please
I’m so sick of auto-correct!
Duck auto-correct!
Count me out…..too invasive, too intrusive. We already pay the price in so many ways – the majority are “punished” because of the fewer law-breakers. I’m a perfectly upstanding citizen but because of drug users everywhere I have to have my personal ID scrutinized when I buy Advil Cold and Sinus in CVS. Does it take but a few seconds, yes, but annoying. Oh wait, what am I talking about…….isn’t the same thing done millions of times per day when we all walk through the TSA checkpoints or walking in and out of department store metal detectors? We all are assumed to be terrorists or possible terrorists every time we get on a plane. We don’t need “hidden” cameras watching our every move.
Great article – very interesting. Curious where you found the following: “Delta experimented with cameras over a decade ago but abandoned the idea.”
Hi Jeff,
My source was the NY Times–
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/06/business/surveillance-cameras-set-to-keep-watch-in-airliners.html
Awesome – thanks. The public bus I ride sometimes has cameras showing about 6 separate vantage points of all parts of the passenger cabin and the driver’s area. On rare occasions, there are crimes on buses and the video is an outstanding resource for the police. Never really thought about why such cameras are not in cabins of most commercial aircraft. Thanks for getting back to – very interesting article!
Not just airplanes: the government needs to mandate video cameras in every US home to monitor drug use, domestic violence against women, and incorrect pronoun use.
Attention: Above is the inbred Billy Bob, not the real one. I would never advocate cameras in every home.. just those of Republicans to make sure they aren’t planning any mass shootings
I saw this on Gary’s site too and immediately thought about Singapore Air’s mini cameras above the IFE screens. He did mention that as well, with an old tweet but it didn’t elaborate. Did Singapore Air ever come out and say if those are in fact cameras and if so, what they’re using them for?
I’m a member at a certain national gym chain named after a certain color and it appears their treadmills have this same thing that Sing’s IFE has. I want to ask them about it.
Matt said it himself, it’s sad but that ship sailed long ago. We were on camera in most walks of our lives already, leading up to getting on that aircraft…I guess they figure, why stop there?
Singapore Airlines says that those cameras have not been wired to anyting, so they don’t work. As an analogy, if you try to use a lamp without plugging it in, it won’t work. Delta, AA, and United faced similar accusations and they debunked their accusations with the same explanation.
Thank you for the clarification. If they say they’re not wired to anything and aren’t using them, then I guess I’ll believe them. I just wonder why the company who makes the hardware even chose to build it that way. Obviously I’m not doing anything nefarious on an airplane so I couldn’t really care less if they’re staring at me sleeping/reading/eating. I just wondered what their intentions were.
Sure, why not. It probably wouldn’t matter, like the cameras in SF/Chicago stores that get looted on the reg.
If you were having a life threatening heart attack alone in corner of an airport, would you and your loved ones be thankful if it were witnessed by a surveillance camera controlled by AI which sent an ambulance crew rushing to save your life?
Or you would you make your last dying gasp “Live free or Die!”
Outside of the US, aircraft cabin cameras are more common than you may think. In many cases they’re also relatively discreet though generally live view but not recording AFAIK. If you know what to look for, you’ll start noticing them more.
You mentioned Asiana. I believe it was you that booked my very first RTW award ticket in F/J. I recall being on a Asiana 747 in F – the only passenger – and being amazed that almost every time I made the slightest movement, a FA magically appeared. I looked for a camera, but never found it.
I think even with cameras in the cabin an FA can still find a way to sneak a business class meal to Matt in Economy class.
That being said, the game change is AI. In the next decade at most, AI will do a lot of things with security cameras that are now passive or after-the-fact recording devices. For example: It will quickly identity likely baggage porch-pirates, so to speak, who are grabbing bags but didn’t come from a flight. With face recognition and body language analysis, it will have a pretty good idea of what most people are doing in the airport.
Onboard, AI would be able to detect if one passenger boarded in the front, say, and then went to the back and went through someone else’s bags in the overhead bin while others were asleep and alert the crew.
Outside of the airport, with all the cameras around and license plate readers, it will be trivial for the state to have a record of where we drove and when. I remember a case even recently of a hoax hate crime against a church and the police had the suspect within a week and he was a church member who wanted to generate publicity.
All this reminds me of the old Dick Tracey comics.