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Home  >  Virgin Atlantic  >  It’s Time To Shut Down In-Flight Messaging Systems
Virgin Atlantic

It’s Time To Shut Down In-Flight Messaging Systems

Matthew Klint Posted onOctober 8, 2019October 9, 2019 23 Comments

A horrible incident on a Virgin Atlantic flight provides a compelling reason for airlines to think twice about in-flight messaging systems.

24-year-old Jessica Van Meir was traveling from London to Washington Dulles on Virgin Atlantic, seated in 55C. She got up to use the restroom. When she returned, she found several vulgar and sexually explicit messages on her seatback screen.

How? Virgin Atlantic has an in-flight messaging system where passengers can text one another from anywhere on the plane. Apparently, there is no opt-in function and anyone can be bombarded with messages…

Yesterday I was on a @VirginAtlantic flight, and I unexpectedly received these sexually harassing messages on my screen (I was in 55C).
The flight attendants were helpful & dealt with it swiftly.

Have any other women had this happen to them?#metoo #cyberharassment @SCFGallagher pic.twitter.com/7tbVkRhpQp

— Jessica Van Meir (@jessicavanmeir) October 6, 2019


She later added:

@VirginAtlantic, you should probably take measures to prevent this from happening by flagging specific language and putting in place a reporting function on the chat to report abusive users.@JessicaValenti @theguardian #sexualharassment #airlineharassment

— Jessica Van Meir (@jessicavanmeir) October 6, 2019

The harassing texts stops when Van Meir let the perverts know that she was a paralegal for a law firm that specializes in sexual harassment litigation. She also complained to flight attendants.

Flight attendants swiftly dealt with the issue, telling the passengers to stop and checking in often on Van Meir during the flight.

A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson later said:

We were extremely concerned to hear of the incident reported on-board one of our flights and are investigating as a matter of urgency.

We want all of our customers to have the best possible experience when they fly with us, and have zero tolerance for any disruptive or inappropriate behavior.

We’re grateful to our cabin crew who supported our customer following this incident and would like to apologise for the distress caused. We are now reviewing our entertainment systems to ensure this does not happen again.

Time To Say Goodbye To In-Flight Messaging

In-flight messaging via the seatback IFE monitor is a dinosaur in the age of in-flight wi-fi and Bluetooth. It’s also invasive and prone to abuse.

I am frankly surprised that Virgin’s system did not have a system in which you had to opt-in before receiving text messages from strangers. I am equally surprised that there is not some sort of filter in the system to expunge profanity or other explicit words.

Never assume adults will act like grown-ups….

It seems to me that the idea of communicating with seatmates is best accomplished by (wait for it)…actually speaking to your seatmates. The aisles are for walking, not just service carts. For its part, Virgin Atlantic has said it was already in the process of phasing out its in-flight messaging system.

CONCLUSION

The thought of a random person sending explicit messages to my wife or other loved ones disgusts me. This incident should never has happened and is inexcusable. Let’s hope Virgin Atlantic and other airlines with messaging systems learn from this incident.

image: Virgin Atlantic

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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23 Comments

  1. Andy K Reply
    October 8, 2019 at 12:27 pm

    Funny, when Virgin America introduced this service about a decade ago, part of their ad campaign featured passengers using the system to flirt and meet new friends. In 2013, the service expanded to be able to buy another passenger a drink. In other words, systems like this were made for and promote the kind of behaviour that we are seeing here. The difference here, of course, is that it was unwanted by the female passenger. The men should have stopped immediately. However, the system promoted this and made it possible in the first place.

    • Bandmeeting Reply
      October 8, 2019 at 3:26 pm

      Was calling oneself “Big dick swinger” part of the Virgin Air campaign promoting this feature? If not, perhaps you are exaggerating quite what Virgin was attempting.

      • Ken Bo Reply
        October 9, 2019 at 5:36 pm

        Maybe we should outlaw men from public spaces or at least make it illegal to speak unless spoken to first.

  2. Patrick Reply
    October 8, 2019 at 1:02 pm

    I think a major beat should have been involved!

    • Patrick Reply
      October 8, 2019 at 1:03 pm

      That should read major beat down!

      • James Reply
        October 8, 2019 at 10:51 pm

        Nice play of words and unintentionally… Hahaha

  3. Pete Reply
    October 8, 2019 at 1:02 pm

    At a minimum, couldn’t the flight attendants have publicly scolded these men since their seat numbers are identified?

  4. derek Reply
    October 8, 2019 at 1:05 pm

    Now I know to do it! Never thought of using it that way before. To avoid sexual harassment claims (which women AND men can do), there are alternative:

    1. Trump is the best president ever!
    2. Trump is the worst president ever! With Bernie, you’ll get free college and also free frequent flyer miles!
    3. Hitler built the autobahn. Such a wonderful thing! (high speed expressways/highways)
    4. The person in front of you got a free flight just for saying the magic word (it’s “where’s my free upgrade? ) 20 times (once every 5 minutes) to a flight attendant and be persistent.

    • Steve S Reply
      October 9, 2019 at 10:03 am

      Me, to flight attendant: “Excuse me, where is your on-board revenue management executive sitting? I’d like to speak to them.”

      Flight attendant: “Oh sir, what are you doing in economy? Let me escort you to the first class cabin.”

      -How flying works according to Christopher Elliot

  5. Max M Reply
    October 8, 2019 at 2:04 pm

    Yes, let’s take inflight messaging away from planes, since people are not responsible, and can’t be trusted. *roll eyes*

    Reality: The bulk of people that use it *ARE* responsible. When my wife and I are seated in Business Class in solo seats, it’s a wonderful way to remain in contact with each other during the flight, especially late at night when people are sleeping. Rather than take it away from people: Here’s a simple solution: require inflight messaging to be “opt-in” in order to operate. And put up a “code of conduct” disclaimer/acknowledgement prior to being able to activate in-flight messaging, including any consequences for harassment. That way people that actually want to use it still can, and those that don’t won’t get messages like this by not activating inflight messaging. It’s an incredibly simple solution.

    • tcoe Reply
      October 8, 2019 at 8:07 pm

      Agree Max, such a knee jerk reaction over one incident, some constraints is the solution

  6. Ken M Reply
    October 8, 2019 at 2:36 pm

    In the early days of my travel on PanAm and TWA, these kinds of things would have happened in person instead of over a monitor. Much easier to see if she wanted the attention or not. Perhaps better?

  7. Stephan Reply
    October 8, 2019 at 3:00 pm

    lol imagine if this feature was on EasyJet? The messages on flights from the UK to Spain and Greece would be earth-shatteringly stupid.

  8. Christian Reply
    October 8, 2019 at 3:53 pm

    These systems just have too much room for abuse.

  9. James Reply
    October 8, 2019 at 8:20 pm

    Let’s review the usefulness of a blacksmith in our community because a knife that the blacksmith made was a weapon for attempted murder. The victim, tough unharmed is very offended by the action of the blacksmith that provide such tool that can be used as a weapon.

    On the other side, which part stating that she is a paralegal? All I read is she works at lawfirm. It could be receptionist, librarian, accounting, chaffeur, etc. Oh wait…. A blog needs to have sensational story maybe?

  10. Esteban Reply
    October 8, 2019 at 8:55 pm

    What a tragedy.

    • Dick Bupkiss Reply
      October 8, 2019 at 10:24 pm

      Oh the humanity.

  11. John L Reply
    October 8, 2019 at 10:26 pm

    Lets ban cars too because they can hurt people sometimes.

    Whats this rush to ban something when something goes wrong? You millennials need thicker skin,

    • James Reply
      October 8, 2019 at 10:54 pm

      Correction. Hurt is physical damage. It is offended.

      • PolishKnight Reply
        October 10, 2019 at 1:30 pm

        There’s a joke out that goes: “How could a generation of kids that grew up with South Park and Family Guy be so easily offended?” Here’s a cute video with a bunch of millennials watching Seinfeld asking if they think it’s still funny. In a strange sort of way, the video itself is funny:

  12. pvg Reply
    October 9, 2019 at 10:11 am

    “This incident should never has happened and is not excusable.” What is inexcusable is the constant flow of typos. Do you read your posts before sending them to the masses?

  13. Naughta Mulennial Reply
    October 12, 2019 at 9:57 am

    Every time a millennial acts offended, an angel gets their wings.
    And I laugh my effin A off.

  14. Pingback: 124 Year Old Man's International Vacation - View from the Wing

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