Come fly the friendly skies?
Not so fast, claim a few rogue Air New Zealand employees.
The company has been forced to respond to a handful of lewd images that were posted last year by a select number of pilots and flight attendants, but have only first gone viral now.
They include a blow-up doll in the cockpit and video of a stewardess saying she wishes she could spit all over some customers.
In response to these photos, which we’ve sprinkled throughout this article, Air New Zealand executives say they are “shocked and appalled.”
An employment attorney says the images could bring the airline into “disrepute”, and could amount to serious misconduct.
“We expect the highest standards of behavior and respect from all our staff,” an Air New Zealand spokeswoman says, adding that an internal investigation is underway.
It’s unclear what took the airline so long to pounce on this story.
The same spokeswoman says the Snapchat video (from which we’ve screen-capped a photo) was shared four years ago, while the blow-up doll pics (hehe) are about a year old.
“One of the staff members concerned no longer works for Air New Zealand and the other two have been removed from duties pending the outcome of our investigation,” the woman said in a statement, adding:
“It goes without saying that this is a situation we are treating with extreme seriousness – and our obvious concern is that the behavior displayed is a clear breach of not just our code of conduct but basic decency.”
Air New Zealand is a carrier often praised for its passenger-friendly service and amenities.
And who’s to say that some passengers wouldn’t like the idea of a blow-up doll sitting in the cockpit?
Still, you can understand why the airline would not be receptive to these messages and pictures.
The aforementioned attorney also says these sorts of social media posts could be ground for dismissal.
“Particularly in a situation where they are in full uniform, it would be difficult to argue that they would not bring the company into disrepute by virtue of those photographs,” he says.
Context would matter, employment lawyer Fraser Wood states, making us wonder what context there could be for these sex doll images
Perhaps they were being used as auto pilots, like in the movie Airplane?
At the end of the day, Wood had a simple message to pass along to those who wish to keep their jobs:
“Don’t post anything you don’t want your parents or employers to see,” he warns.