Josh Cahill, a YouTuber recognized for aviation content material, posted the video “THE SHOCKING DECLINE OF QATAR AIRWAYS” on August 26 to his 600,000 or so subscribers.
He mentioned Qatar employees requested him to take down the video — and when he didn’t, appeared to retaliate by canceling a future reserving.
He described the transfer as “drastic” and “a worrying instance of censorship.” Qatar Airways declined to touch upon the report when strategy by Enterprise Insider.
In Cahill’s August video he mentioned Qatar was dropping its title because the world’s finest airline. He cited “outdated planes, soiled cabins, unfriendly, and demotivated crew, and working out of meals selections” as a few of his qualms whereas documenting his journey from Colombo, Sri Lanka, to the airline’s hub in Doha, Qatar.
It amassed over 600,000 views and caught the eye of Qatar Airways itself.
Cahill posted one other video on December 16, alleging that the airline received in touch with him and requested him to take down the video, providing a free flight if he complied.
In his video, Cahill mentioned he refused, prompting Qatar to as a substitute ask him to take away any destructive feedback different folks posted on his video. He turned that down too.
Cahill mentioned within the video he additionally obtained an e mail from a employees member on the flight he filmed, saying she had not given him permission to report her. She later instructed him she feared she could be fired if she did not ship the e-mail, he mentioned.
Cahill was going to journey with Qatar Airways once more, he mentioned, however was knowledgeable at Abu Dhabi Airport by employees that his reserving had been canceled, and he was banned from any future flights.
He confirmed Enterprise Insider screenshots of his flight reserving, and a later e mail from Qatar employees saying his reserving had been canceled.
The e-mail mentioned the airline would additionally not settle for any future bookings from him.
The e-mail cited the airline’s “circumstances of carriage,” which give Qatar broad discretion to refuse service to passengers.
Cahill instructed BI that no one from Qatar Airways had been in contact since his December 16 video.
“In 10 years of reviewing airways I’ve by no means been banned from any airline, nor has any of them ever provided me a free flight in return to delete the destructive overview,” he mentioned. “That was certainly a first-timer.”
He mentioned normally airways “are very good and grateful and attempt to work on their points or issues” after his evaluations.
“Therefore I am stunned by Qatar’s drastic response,” he mentioned.
Cahill mentioned he believes an airline banning a passenger resulting from a nasty overview “sends out a worrying instance of censorship.”
“I’ve taken loads of journeys on Qatar Airways earlier than and seemingly there was by no means a difficulty filming my expertise,” he mentioned. “However issues modified after I posted a relatively destructive however nonetheless balanced overview.”
He mentioned lots of his viewer appeared to have determined to not fly with Qatar given the way it handled him.
Cahill mentioned, although, that he hoped that Qatar may change its angle on condition that it not too long ago received a brand new CEO, Badr Mohammed Al-Meer, who has mentioned he desires to deliver a tradition of “belief and empowerment” to the airline.
The airline has confronted a string of controversies. In 2018, its former CEO mentioned a lady could not do his job “as a result of it’s a very difficult place.” Earlier this month, a former flight attendant mentioned he was fired from the airline for utilizing tinted moisturizer.
