An aviation influencer on YouTube claims he was barred from flying with Qatar Airways after posting a negative review over its “outdated planes, dirty cabins” and “unfriendly and unmotivated crew.”
Josh Cahill, who boasts more than 121 million views and 655,000 subscribers on YouTube, posted the video “THE SHOCKING DECLINE OF QATAR AIRWAYS” on August 26, documenting his poor review of the airline. Cahill, who regularly posts flight reviews, documented issues with everything from the state of the bathrooms and entertainment options to the food and welcome-aboard greeting.
Cahill first said he had been banned from Qatar Airways on Dec. 14, claiming he had been stopped at the airline’s check-in counter at Dubai International Airport. He broke down his experience in a follow-up video on Dec. 16, alleging that Qatar Airways staff asked him to take down the video and barred him from its flights when he refused.
A person familiar with the airline’s thinking confirmed to The Messenger that Cahill was banned, but said it was because he violated Qatar Airway’s terms of service by filming passengers without their express consent — not because of his review. Cahill couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
Qatar Airways declined to comment for this article.
A staff member on his flight emailed Cahill, saying she had not permitted him to record her. She later told him she was afraid she would be fired if she didn’t send him that email, Cahill told his followers in a Dec. 16 video.
“They made an offer which I consider a bribe — this is not what I stand for,” Cahill said. “Qatar Airways tried everything possible to have the video removed. The crew, all of them, were dismissed, fired, terminated and let go,” after the video wasn’t taken down. The person familiar with the company’s thinking disputed Cahill’s claim, saying that none of the crew has been fired since his first video was uploaded in August.
Cahill added that a group of Qatar Airways personnel — including the company’s vice president of corporate communications — offered him a free “PR flight” in return for taking down the video, which he declined. The airline also asked Cahill to delete any comments posted on his original video that criticized the airline, which Cahill labeled “a worrying example of censorship.”
Several of those comments claimed to be written by Qatar Airways employees and frequent fliers.
“We are underpaid, under fear, under rested, under arrest at my own accommodation most of the times,” one anonymous commenter who claimed to be a Qatar Airways flight attendant said. “Sometimes I feel I have no basic human rights. I feel like I’m being watched the whole time, monitored even. The crew are truly exhausted,” they said.
Since Cahill posted his video on Dec. 16, he has not spoken with anyone from the airline, according to Business Insider.
“In 10 years of reviewing airlines I have never been banned from any airline, nor has any of them ever offered me a free flight in return to delete the negative review,” Cahill told the publication. “That was indeed a first-timer.”