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Qatar Airways Bans YouTuber for Negative Review
- quchen 3y agoMaybe a weird kink, but these Streisand stories are _so_ satisfying to me.
- echelon 3y agoThe worst possible response. Now not only do they have a thought leader in the space actively turned against them, but now everyone knows. They just gave this story incredible traction. The Streisand effect is strong.
- syndicatedjelly 3y agoThat's an interesting use of the phrase "thought leader".
- dylan604 3y agoNot the definition I'm used to either. "influencer" is even too far for my liking. I feel sorry for people that are actually influenced by any of these people
- colonwqbang 3y agoDo you mean that there are other more notable critics of airlines to consider? Or just that you don't approve of him or youtubers in general? Honest question; I can't say I know much about the airline critic scene. For all I know he could be the top guy in the business or just some random dude on youtube.
- syndicatedjelly 3y ago"Thought leader", along with the phrase "whitepaper", has been diluted to mean almost nothing these days. Companies publish marketing documents and call them "whitepapers" to acquire undeserved legitimacy; same goes for self-proclaimed thought leaders. To me, a thought leader is someone at the top of a legitimate field and leading the way. Not some guy who was wronged by an airline and spent an epic amount of time crafting a tirade against them.
- LegitShady 3y agoI dont know that people who regularly use QA's high end offerings are doing much thought following from this youtube channel.
- threatofrain 3y agoWe often talk about how we need an alternative recourse for customers banned by Google. Some kinds of companies should be more closely watched than others with regards to new policy on consumer rights, and the more important the service the more we should apply elevated scrutiny to those companies. Air travel warrants higher scrutiny.
- jmye 3y agoI disagree. I think No Fly Lists absolutely need the highest scrutiny, but I don’t know that there’s a good argument for individual airlines to not be allowed to restrict who flies with them, especially given the last few years of nutcases fighting and opening emergency doors and whatever else. At least in Western countries, being barred from one carrier is largely irrelevant to one’s ability to travel, that it’s hard to see a good argument for not allowing it. Google, at least, is vastly more pervasive for most people.
- bradly 3y ago> I don’t know that there’s a good argument for individual airlines to not be allowed to restrict who flies with them If other airlines banned this flyer as well would that be a problem?
- lxgr 3y agoIf it happens systematically and in a way that effectively creates one big multilaterally maintained and honored private “no fly” list and a corresponding chilling effect? Absolutely. Otherwise, I’m afraid we’ll quickly have such a list for people exercising their legitimate EU flight compensation rights or anything else inconvenient for airlines. Airlines should on the other hand be free to set their own restrictions on filming in their planes and publishing that material – clearly communicated at the time of booking. I’ve been on a flight with a Youtube “personality” just looking for drama with the airline, and even as a bystander I found it obnoxious (and I didn’t want to end up in that video myself).
- Dalewyn 3y ago
- nomilk 3y agoThe review video https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pPZ69ff-OKA https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pPZ69ff-OKA
- stanislavb 3y agoand I bet this video is about to be watched MILLIONS of times more compared if Qatar didn't get involved in this obnoxious way.
- bushbaba 3y agoAlso known as the Barbara Streisand effect.
- lucb1e 3y agoThe whole review sounds rather nitpicky and arbitrary to me, but I don't see anything that would warrant a ban by my (Dutch) standards. Perhaps in a country like China this level of directly voiced criticism is probably an issue when directed at The Party, but elsewhere in the world? While disagreeing with at least half the critique (like pretending it's "never happened across 600 flights" (something to be proud of!) to run out of a certain meal type), the one thing I want to call out is his expectation that any crew is happy to see him personally and act somewhat like how servants are described to act in medieval novels (one of many examples from the video: "back in the day, I loved the eagerness [of Qatar Air's] staff"). I've heard it's a USA thing to require waiters/waitresses to smile literally the whole shift no matter what they're actually feeling as well as to have greeters at supermarket entrances. Checking Wikipedia, he grew up in Germany, so I'm not quite sure where this comes from but this is what stood out to me as the most unreasonable and useless expectation when they're doing their job perfectly well Edit: as this commenter on the video also said > Can we also talk about why the toilets are messy when grown adults are the ones flying. It is unfair for passengers to mess up toilets and expect another human being to clean up your filth after you. [...] The crew are not slaves so please treat them with dignity.
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- gdulli 3y agoThe main health conglomerate in my small state won't accept me as a patient anymore, either because I filed a HIPAA complaint against them (not sure if they know about it) or because of the underlying privacy question/complaint that I took to them first. Their customer service didn't respond to my question which upset me, and I didn't fully think through the implications of burning that bridge.
- buu700 3y agoFrom https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint/complaint-process/index.html https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint/complaint-proce...: Under HIPAA an entity cannot retaliate against you for filing a complaint. You should notify OCR [Office for Civil Rights] immediately in the event of any retaliatory action.
- dylan604 3y agoProving that they did will be an up hill battle though
- colonwqbang 3y agoWhy do you feel that?
- dylan604 3y agoit's not like they're going to come out and say, "yup, we dissed you because you were a whiny customer and lodged a complaint". you'd have to sue, and then hope to find some email specific to your case in discovery. why in the world do you feel it would be anything different?
- ninjin 3y agoWould the same not equally well apply to the company being sued? That they would have to dig up evidence as to why they have decided to deny service. Not arguing that suing a corporation is a pleasant and easy experience though.
- prawn 3y agoWhat a spectacular fumble by Qatar, taking a mediocre review and spending no doubt dozens (at least) of corporate hours: alienating a vocal flyer, crew, avid travellers and more. 'A short time later, Josh received an email from one of the flight attendants who was working his flight, acknowledging that “I know I gave you permission to film the interaction, but I must ask you to remove me from the video,” because “I was pressured to write a statement that I didn’t give you permission to be filmed,” and “if I don’t write it, I will most likely be dismissed”' 'Since Josh wasn’t willing to voluntarily take down the video, Qatar Airways took all of these statements from crew and sent them to YouTube, demanding that the video be removed for privacy reasons.'
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- mrtksn 3y agoThe YouTuber in question is this: https://www.youtube.com/@JoshCahill https://www.youtube.com/@JoshCahill Seems like the concept of the channel is built on negativity and drama, I knew who they banned the moment I read the title. Qatar Airways must have given huge boost and fuel for more videos and they might regret that decision. Previously Qatar Airways was having a publicity stunts against Airbus and their a350 plane which has some paint issues that look horrible but apparently safe to fly. IIRC they lost in court in London and it seems like the airline was looking for ways to offload the losses during the pandemic by claiming that the planes weren't flying because they were not safe. Airbus fired Qatar Airways as a customer over this, which is quite shocking considering that they were the lunch customer of the said plane(they later settled). Maybe Qatar Airways should re-think their PR.
- mikpanko 3y agoApparently, Qatar Airways CEO of 27 years abruptly resigned in October and the new one stated that creating “a culture of trust and empowerment will be the building blocks of our shared success.” [1] So things might be changing. [1] https://onemileatatime.com/news/new-qatar-airways-ceo/ https://onemileatatime.com/news/new-qatar-airways-ceo/
- EwanToo 3y agoThe Airbus case didn't finish as your comment might suggest, both sides have agreed to resume working together. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/airbus-qatar-aim-settle-a350-row-early-today-sources-2023-02-01/ https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/airbus-qa...
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- wkat4242 3y agoHmm the paint issues are not really normal IMO. I don't like Qatar in general (nor their airways) but paint that strips that much is definitely substandard and could cause hazards. A rough body surface can increase drag a lot, flecks of paint can be ingested and build up in the engines or other moving parts (e.g. flap/slat actuators). It could clog sensors leading to other failures (most airplane crashes are a combination of many factors). But in general it's just a very bad thing for a part of a plane to be in a state it was not designed nor tested to be in. I've been a pilot and I would not be happy flying a plane in that state. Don't forget even NASA has said things were perfectly safe when they were not, leading to two tragic fatal accidents. Boeing insisted MCAS was totally safe until the second mass fatality. I don't buy that stuff. You don't fly a plane in such a state.
- reso 3y agoClassic access journalism dynamics. Versions of this are at play in every industry, as reviewers and journalists have enormous incentives to please the entities they cover and have equal disincentives not to rock the boat. You might think this is an outlier, but what authority is going to hold the airline to account? How are you going to convince any YouTuber to give an Ho eat review of the airline ever again?
- resolutebat 3y agoAll publicity is good publicity, particularly on YouTube where eyeballs equate directly to cash, so Josh is going to laugh all the way to the bank with this one. It's next to impossible to make money off travel journalism/blogging anyway, which is why the mid-tier (big enough to get sponsored, small enough that they can't rock the boat) has always been in the industry's pocket.
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- ipython 3y agoNot surprising. I took my family on a multi country trip between France, Egypt and Qatar in mid 2022. We splurged for q suites on Qatar airways and also a hotel stay via Discover Qatar. Fast forward to our aborted attempt at entering the country. We are denied boarding on Qatar airways for our return flight via Doha with our booked stopover. Apparently there is some sort of electronic approval process we did not perform - mind you, we had already filed the forms including our negative Covid tests taken in country- but to no avail. Qatar airways refused to rebook us as they claimed we were a no show. After hours of calls with the airline we finally convinced them to rebook us at no cost, without the stopover. Discover Qatar continues to this day to refuse a refund for a hotel stay we could not use as we were denied entry. First world problems, yes, but when you’re looking for tourism dollars, don’t piss off your customer base.
- koyote 3y agoMight be good to mention that Qatar Airways are the same airline being sued by multiple women after being subjected to invasive body searches: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/21/australian-women-sue-qatar-airways-over-forced-examinations-at-doha-airport https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/21/austr...
- resolutebat 3y agoSomewhat oddly, since as far as I understand it the searches were conducted by security staff at Qatar's Doha airport, not Qatar Airlines personnel. (Admittedly a fine line, since Doha is 99% Qatar Airlines.)
- burkaman 3y agoQatar Airways also runs the airport (https://www.qatarairways.com/en/about-qatar-airways/group-companies.html https://www.qatarairways.com/en/about-qatar-airways/group-co...)
- resolutebat 3y agoAnd the government owns Qatar Airways, so it's all intertwingled. https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL6N0NR1KA/ https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL6N0NR1KA/
- anakaine 3y agoI was fortunate enough to have some time discussing this incident with one of the Qatar Airways media personnel this year. It was done by local authorities and the airline didn't get a say. The airline and the cou try have lost my business forever because of the incident. We have had 4 trips of 6 people where this is one of the main stops on a possible route, and I've actively avoided booking that route because I don't believe in su jecting the women of my family to the particular injustices I believe were committed here. I also believe the local authority figures who completed this search were later fired.
- CamelCaseName 3y ago
- mightytravels 3y ago4D chess by Qatar Airways to stay in the game and get relevant publicity. Ignoring it would have gathered no headlines - this way it’s abuzz. With social media there is no bad PR. We should have all learned that some time ago.
- k12sosse 3y agoQatar has been on the decline since they changed their national anthem around 1995.. Buncha bums running the show
- crmd 3y agoVery poor judgement by the airline's marketing leaders. Instead of asking to take the critical video down, they should have leaned into it with a "we screwed up and want to do better. How can we collaborate to help us get better?" The follow up video would have had 10x positive impact of the original negative video. People love accountability and turnaround stories.
- lxgr 3y agoOn the other hand, I’m somewhat tired of paying for free business class flights, hotel stays, meals etc. of influencers that expect to just get all of these things for free in exchange for a positive shout-out deceptively labeled a “review”, or (as in this case) to avoid drama by a person that appears to be seeking it out, judging by their Youtube page. There’s a reason traditional restaurant critics usually pay for their own meals.
- ern 3y agoThis reviewer says he doesn't get freebies.
- unsupp0rted 3y agoInfluencers have audiences, which are currency. I'm tired of doing what my clients want too, but they have currency and I want their currency. There are clients bad enough that I don't want their currency. But even the best clients require me to bite the bullet sometimes.
- wkat4242 3y agoAs far as middle-eastern countries go, Qatar seems to be a particularly bad apple. I never understood the "let's suck up to them, because maybe they will improve then" mindset that led to the world cup beind held there. If it was up to me we would have boycot the whole thing.
- resolutebat 3y agoBy low Middle Eastern standards, not really. For example, Qatar hasn't been caught dismembering journalists with a bone saw (Saudi) or abducting wayward princesses from international waters (UAE). One plus in Qatar's column: they fund Al Jazeera, which has cast a lot of light on a lot of underreported issues in the region and around the world, although Qatar itself gets a free pass.
- SergeAx 3y agoOne more thing about Qatar: they financing Hamas and giving shelter to its leaders: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatari_support_for_Hamas https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatari_support_for_Hamas
- resolutebat 3y agoQatar tries to play the role of a Middle Eastern Switzerland, it was an early friend of Israel back when that was politically unacceptable in the Guld and it has been instrumental in the recent hostage release agreements between Hamas and Israel. Of course, it's quite hard to stay neutral and for many years it was under a total trade embargo by all its fellow GCC members because it was too supportive of Hamas/Hezbollah/Muslim Brotherhood/Iran/pick your bogeyman. And for what it's worth, the Saudis have also hosted various less than savoury individuals, like Idi Amin. Again, not trying to claim the Qataris are angels here, but singling them out as somehow worse than the rest also doesn't really ring true.
- panick21_ 3y agoGiven how much money flow from Quatar to ISIS, Syrian rebels (basically versions of AQ) and other insane head-jopping radicals Islamist radicals in Libya. They cooperated with Turkey on taking over parts of Syria. They are much to involved in playing the game compared to Switzerland.
- 55555 3y agoQatar QSuites is the best business class in the world, no?
- mightytravels 3y agoOf course and is the world's best airline for some time.
- resolutebat 3y agoYes, but this guy was reporting about economy on an old aircraft plying a non-premium route to Sri Lanka, which like all subcontinental routes on all Gulf carriers tends to get the least love. Most pax are menial workers on the cheapest possible ticket, who fly airplanes approx twice in their life, so why bother?
- roncesvalles 3y agoEasily one of the most disgusting comments I've seen on this site. Having flown into and out of the subcontinent via the Middle East dozens of times, most pax are usually not migrant workers - they're Western-emigrated Indians or their families transiting through a hub in the ME. These are not lesser passengers compared to those who ply between Europe and the Middle East only (in fact, often more well-to-do). In any case, if you're flying with Qatar, you're flying with Qatar. It's entirely fair to judge an airline based on any route that they operate under their own name. It's only the Middle Eastern airlines who treat subcontinent flights as "second class" routes btw, with lesser aircraft, new or low-performing crew, substandard food - and this is entirely because the airline employees that plan these routes are racist. I daresay even on ME-Europe routes South Asian passengers are treated differently by these airlines.
- resolutebat 3y agoI'm not saying I approve of this state of affairs, I'm simply explaining how Gulf airlines view these routes, so reserve your disgust for them. And of course this attitude permeates how Gulf countries view people from the subcontinent in general.
- lew101696 3y agoQA's reaction likely have 100x more negative effects than a video on YouTube with half a million views.
- system2 3y agoNice, the original video didn't even reach me before Qatar Airlines decided to go on a war with this YouTuber and did crazy things like firing the flight crew and banning the guy. For what it's worth, I won't be flying with them after this. Freedom of speech comes first, maybe they will evolve one day and understand.
- SergeAx 3y agoI skimmed several videos on the channel in question, and came to the conclusion that if I happened to be an airline PR/marketing executive, I would find any phony reason to ban him from the airline just as a matter of personal taste. What a douchebag.
- hedora 3y agoObviously, this is the airline's right. However, I'd argue that they should be treated like a utility, and that it should not be their right to arbitrarily refuse service. Banning people for valid reasons should be the job of airport security and the courts.
- ern 3y agoI found a similar video from the same creator on an airline called Vistara: https://youtu.be/gJPtwy7gAgM?si=j6xsLJVley7hYllA https://youtu.be/gJPtwy7gAgM?si=j6xsLJVley7hYllA The same sort of “they tried take my video down” and “the staff emailed me”. It seems to be his spiel. That doesn’t mean it isn’t valid, but it is interesting.
- silexia 3y agoThis is why free speech is so important. Most platforms now ban speech that doesn't match their politics, but thankfully X / Twitter does allow free speech. Support it and use that tool.