Subscribe

Topic of the Week: The US Airways Porno Plane Incident

23 comments on Topic of the Week: The US Airways Porno Plane Incident

Brett

By now, everyone has heard about the, hilarious (some might say unfortunate) photo that US Airways tweeted out earlier this week. If you haven’t heard about it, then picture a woman doing a graphic sexual act with a model airplane. Yeah, that.

US Airways has posted details of exactly what happened in an employee newsletter, and the employee who accidentally did this won’t be fired.

What do you think? Does this whole thing have any impact on US Airways? Will it hurt the airline? Should the person who tweeted it have been fired? Or is it just something small and insignificant that happened to grab people’s attention for a brief moment in time?

(My opinion: This was obviously an accident. The person who did it must be mortified. I think it’s just pretty hilarious and it won’t have any lasting impact.)

Get Cranky in Your Inbox!

The airline industry moves fast. Sign up and get every Cranky post in your inbox for free.

Brett Avatar
Brett

23 responses to “Topic of the Week: The US Airways Porno Plane Incident”

  1. Gary Leff Avatar
    Gary Leff

    Of course the tweet about the New American taking delivery of a 777 won’t have a lasting impact.

    They could have really leveraged it, though.

    Had Ben Baldanza and Barry Biffle still been at US Airways, they might have run a “customer cervix sale.”

    Reply
    1. ANCJason Avatar
      ANCJason

      This is an example of a modern marketing genius.

      Reply
    2. CF Avatar
      CF

      Gary – So the “New American” is a tattooed woman? I guess it’s better than the previous incarnation which was a matronly woman with a scowl on her face.

      Reply
  2. Jon Avatar
    Jon

    It won’t have a lasting impact at all. Although it’s all over the news now, in 6 months people will forget about it just like all of the other twitter-gaffes by other companies.

    Reply
  3. Chase Avatar
    Chase

    Ok, I thought it was hilarious! Granted, I’m not of the older generation, but these kinds of things happen sometimes, and the timing couldn’t have been better to lighten the mood from the US mileage devaluation. I really just can’t stop laughing everytime I think about this [disturbing] image!

    Reply
  4. MeanMeosh Avatar
    MeanMeosh

    Seems like a pretty standard cut-and-paste screw-up to me. As long as no evidence comes to light indicating the employee had more nefarious intentions, I don’t think this is going to have any discernible impact on US Airways. Everyone will forget about it after a few days – except for the unfortunate employee who goofed, who will undoubtedly be needled by co-workers around the water cooler for a while. As someone who was something of an office prankster in my younger days, I can see a couple of splendid practical jokes here…

    And no, I don’t think the employee should be fired, as long as it genuinely was a mistake and he/she doesn’t have a history of problems such as these. Stuff happens, often far more serious stuff than this. People really should lighten up a little.

    Reply
  5. David SF eastbay Avatar
    David SF eastbay

    I heard something about it, but like most things you hear in the media I could have cared less. But just reading it now, it was just an accident, but the media was making it sound like the airline was sending out porn like this is all they do all day, sit around viewing porn.

    The media outlets got their quick ‘click’ on traffic to play their numbers game, but by next week no one will remember or like me care about it.

    Reply
  6. Nun Avatar
    Nun

    I thought it was an intentional metaphor for Parker screwing AAdvantage members last week. It seemed completely appropriate.

    Reply
  7. Andrew Avatar
    Andrew

    I’m a fairly avid follower of the airline industry, and a Twitter user to boot, and I’ve already forgotten about it. So no, I don’t think this will have any impact at all on anything. Pretty hilarious in the moment, though!

    Reply
  8. Andre Avatar
    Andre

    I hope it hurts them. I was disgusted. Here I am trying to enjoy images of vaginas only to have them ruined by a model airplane that is significantly larger than the average male member. If they are going to use these types of images then the model should be smaller. Perhaps in the 5 to 6 inch range. Shame on you US Airways.

    Reply
    1. Julian Avatar
      Julian

      Yeah using a wide-body creates all sorts of unreaslistic expectations. Shame indeed.

      Reply
    2. CF Avatar
      CF

      Andre – Second day in a row I need a like button in the comments.

      Reply
  9. Jeff Mills Avatar
    Jeff Mills

    US Airways won’t be around much longer,anyways!

    Reply
  10. Seth Avatar
    Seth

    The pic was crude but I did laugh at it, mostly out of shock. That is no way to treat a 777.

    I don’t think it will impact US Airways at all. In today’s twitter world where there is a new topic trending every hour, this screw up will be forgotten soon enough. People make mistakes and I think the embarrassment for the employee will probably be punishment enough.

    Reply
  11. Rugbyfan Avatar
    Rugbyfan

    I guess we now know were MH370 went.

    Reply
    1. misanthropic Avatar
      misanthropic

      like!

      Reply
  12. SAN Greg Avatar
    SAN Greg

    Just US Airways nefariously trying to get Bill Clinton’s business.

    Reply
  13. Kevin Avatar
    Kevin

    I just thought, Wow! I usually have to pay extra for that :-)

    Reply
  14. Gene Avatar
    Gene

    Worst part was that it didn’t even carry the US Airways/AA livery.

    Reply
  15. No Fly Zone Avatar
    No Fly Zone

    I easily agree with your comment; the evidence suggests that this was a colossal, unfortunate accident. U.S. Airways jumped on it quickly, determined that there was zero potential for ill intent and promptly made very public amends. How can one fault that? From never-quotable sources, I understand that the U.S. Airways’ Public Face staff has put this behind them, save the odd humorous jab at the fellow whose ‘pasties’ don’t fit so well. IMO, the event should be recorded as a most unfortunate accident – no less and certainly no more. And, as concerns the poor gentleman’s employment status, U.S. Air again did the right thing; there is No Cause to fire the fellow. And, the “New American” Airlines will enjoy more than their share of water coolor humor for a decade or more. I am more than satisfied with the ‘spin’ from U.S. Air and, as strange as it may seem, I believe that the airline is telling the truth. The fellow at the head of this thing is not so much lucky to have his job, but seriously fortunate that he works for U.S. A…., and not a face-saving at all cost Asian airline. Let’s chuckle our way through the moment for one more day and then return to normal events and business. I am more than satisfied with the response from U.S. Airways, as published in their employee news letter – and widely quoted elsewhere. While still not my favorite airline, U.S. Air certainly has my respect. Let’s move on…

    Reply
  16. Maarten Avatar
    Maarten

    Well done, USAirways: policy in place, people trained and a silly cut-n-paste mistake does not lead to an over-reaction.

    Reply
  17. Ben Milner Avatar
    Ben Milner

    Nah, it was just a silly mistake – a hilarious one. I love a good sense of humour, so I would hope no one would lose their job over it. Props to US Air for not losing their cool and punishing the employee

    Reply
  18. Torsten Avatar
    Torsten

    “There is no such thing as bad publicity” ;)

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Cranky Flier