BA banning staff from social media?

Qprmeath

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/02/02/british-airways-bans-pilots-cabin-crew-posting-cockpit-selfies/

They seem to have rowed back on this a little but it’s an interesting debate. Good or bad for the company?

Board Walker

Scott Bateman has informed everyone that he cannot post in relation to his job any more. There are a ton of BA cabbin crew had a full social media presence directly relating to their position which has well and truly ended that for them. Also a few other Pilots on twitter etc.

Suvarnabhumi

I think it's a shame. You're probably familiar with Dave Wallsworth (I think). He used to post some great photos and had a lot of interesting stuff about the planes and his life as a Captain.

VG31

It's a shame alright. Dave Wallsworth (Captain Dave) and Scott Bateman post some great content on Twitter.

Tenger

The wording of the instruction seems odd as well "while actively engaging in professional duties"

BALPA already had a "no phones under 20,000" rule.

This implies that the crew may use their personal devices at other times, when off duty or on inflight breaks.

But it seems that the active staff are going for the safer route and not posting anything. Probably safer for them.

California Dreamer

As much as I love to see the content myself, how about you do the job that you are being paid €100k plus a year for and instead of trying to get the best picture, video, etc.

There was a QR pilot that used to post a lot of content when flying, A350 skipper. One video had him on the flight deck streaming a live video with other crew and cabin crew with the door open and you could see passengers coming and going to the toilet. He is no longer with QR.

Tenger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120218478#Comment_120218478

What an utter idiot.

Its very easy to remain professional while taking advantage of your position to snap a few astounding pics or videos.

California Dreamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120221232#Comment_120221232

I am disappointed by that response from your Tenger, not like you at all. As a regular poster and as a mod you know full well to attack the post and not the poster.

The fact remains that flight crew are highly trained professionals being paid a lot of money to do what they do. I did acknowledge that I liked to see some of their videos but where is the line drawn?

knucklehead6

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120222565#Comment_120222565

I think you picked up the wrong end of the stick there CD. The way I read it Tenger was referring to the QR pilot as an idiot, not you.

Tenger

I was referring to the QR pilots as an utter idiot.

Live streaming while inflight is bad enough, but with the cockpit door open. Just bizare.

California Dreamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120223260#Comment_120223260

Sorry, my bad!!! 🤦‍♂️

Board Walker

There was a few Cabin crew making a second life for themselves on Instagram. That rug us well and truly removed

kevinandrew

I can fully understand why the airline would want to regulate work related content staff are putting out there. It can get messy very quickly once a ‘content creator’ makes a name for themselves and gains a considerable following.

Good guidelines, when implemented properly, can keep staff and passengers safe while maintaining the integrity of the brand. Unfortunately it seems the way this was communicated and what triggered the decision wasn’t entirely fair or considerate but more of a bitter response to the discontent many people at the airline had with the new uniform which had just been publicly revealed.

Whatever the reasoning, BA has had a communications nightmare which has become very public!

I believe Aer Lingus already has quite firm rules for their staff regarding social media, however there has been a notable increase in staff presence in official Aer Lingus posts since the BA fallout.

Tenger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120258416#Comment_120258416

Those "firm rules" are still being flouted by idiotic crew members.

Multiple instance of crew recording and posting video's are inopportune points inflight.

(showing my age here, turned 40 2 years back and am officially a grumpy old man)

smurfjed

We had a very active TIK-TOKKER, someone send one of his videos to management, they tried to punish him but discovered that we didn’t have a social media policy. Now we have a super strict policy where I can’t even post where I work on LinkedIn :):)