YouTuber Josh Cahill, who has nearly 700,000 subscribers, reviews flights and courts drama, it seems. Just a couple of months ago he was banned by Qatar Airways over a negative review.
Now he’s taken on East Timor’s Aero Dili. He flew the carrier from Bali to Dili Airport in East Timor, posted a negative review of his trip on the airline’s only jet, and claimed to have gotten food poisoning on board.
In response, the airline took to Facebook to accuse Cahill of trying to extort them, demanding the following for a positive review:
- a free flight
- hotel accommodations
- per diem to cover food
- $50,000 cash
They didn’t post messages to support this demand. Instead, the airline posted a photo of his… passport?
Cahill discovered that East Timor has no data protection laws. Posting his passport photo wasn’t illegal. (I’d note that the government of East Timor introduced a draft Data Privacy and Protection Law in 2021 but it is not in effect.) Aero Dili is not an IATA member, so didn’t run afoul of their guidelines either. He wants his viewers to demand that Singapore block Aero Dili’s planned service there because of its failure to adhere to data protection standards.
One Mile at a Time points out that it’s a poor practice on the part of the airline to post this passport photo. There’s nothing to be gained, and opens them up to significant criticism. He believes Cahill that the demands supposedly placed on the airline are “totally made up.”
Think what you may of Cahill, but I 100% believe him when he says that the accusations by the airline are completely baseless. C’mon, he wanted a free flight, a food allowance, and $50,000, in exchange for a positive review, from a small, national airline? No, that’s totally made up.
It wouldn’t surprise me if,
- Cahill reached out to the airline to see if they’d offer him the flight, and to sponsor the review? As OMAAT observes the amount requested would be a bit rich for Aero Dili.
- A video review needs to offer drama – either amazing over-the-top experience or absolute misery – in order to perform well.
The airline maybe believes it was extortion, while Cahill just sees himself reporting (and perhaps dramatizing) what actually happened? Posting an email outlining the YouTuber’s sponsorship request, if there was one, would have been far more appropriate than posting a photo of his passport.
Cahill’s followers are all over Aero Dili’s social media. I have to think they’re overwhelmed, it’s literally an airline that lists aerodili2018 as its gmail address.
I am like him who believes most airlines especially US airlines suck and many hotels suck as well but I don’t post only negative review reviews all the time . Unlike me , he has negative and reviews on 99.99% on air travel . At times he acts like he owns these foreign airline employees . When you are outside of your country , you have to adapt to local customs and rules .
Cahill is a #dramaqueen I unsubscribed after the #qatarairways BS he spews out
He’s such an obnoxious tool, and a coward . You can bet he wouldn’t dare write anything negative about air koryo were he to fly them and find them lacking
Did they post a photo of his passport or his passport photo. Not the same thing…. The article uses both phrases.
This guy just reeks arrogance. I mean, his silly awards behind him with his name plastered on the wall. Narcissist much? And he’s out there looking for these types of interactions. If he does it in particular countries he’s liable to learn the definition of FAFO. And all for clicks. Shameless.
I can’t comment on this individual but in general I believe most of these you tube “influencer” guys are scammers looking to get free flights.etc. So my inclination is to believe the airline 100%.
Too bad about the passport but then most of us have been victims of multiple data breaches so it’s hard to see how posting the passport is going to result in any damage. This is why you need 2FA, good passwords, CRA freeze, etc.
Also this begs the questions of why anyone would ever fly this airline? Seriously I am going to trust my life to some 3rd world “airline” with 1 jet – NOT. Stick to major carriers when at all possible. Those 700k followers can’t do jack for you when the plane tanks or the pilot pulls a Malaysia 370.
I believe this video blogger is the same self-important joker who said that the nation and the people of Tunisia should be shamed by its airline Tunisair. As if England/Brits should be shamed by BA or U.S./Americans should be shamed by AA. I believe and support Aero Dili in not catering to this silly kid’s idiocy. The boy needs to stop being a drama queen and get a real job.
Interesting. On the Aerodili.com site, at the bottom of the page, under the headings of FAQ, Terms and Conditions, and Privacy Policy, there is absolutely nothing. Zero, zilch, nada. For that matter, the entire site consists of only a home page, a booking page, and a page listing future destinations and pics of the 3 pilots for the airline. Not an airline that inspires a lot of confidence.
@Thing 1: Cannot state with certainty, but according to the YouTube video, Cahill states that they published “photos of his passport, including all of the details”. Fortunately, western search engines like Google are not re-posting that.
I think I might have heard of this personality but never seen any of his vids. Based on everyone’s comments it seems he’s one of those “commercialized” influencers which I generally don’t like to watch. I only really watch TrekTrendy to live vicariously travel-wise — if anyone has any channel recommendations along a similar personality and attitude towards vlogging would like to expand my travel viewing a bit.
Anyway, posting someone’s passport whether legal or not just seems like a bad PR move…
Why disbelive the airline? This is exactly what influencers do. They have no scruples. There is even a blogger in Dallas who used to write for “The Dallas Morning News” who routinely shills for restaurants for free food and never declares the interest. A bad review means that they cut him off.
A humbling for that whiny little diva was in store.
Cahill acts like an entitled little child when he travels. I’m surprised an airline or airport worker hasn’t punched him yet for the way he talks down to some of these employees.
I’m a bit surprised by your tone, Gary. I’ve seen many of Cahill’s videos and saw his Qatar video he posted BEFORE the brouhaha hit. He is straightforward and does not seem to play the games of many other YouTube flight reviewers. So for you to take the snarky suspecting tone you did in this post is disappointing and belies a bias I’d not seen from you before.
The little shit should be banned from all airlines for life. Take away his livelihood.
People crying about Cahill in here is hilarious. He’s someone who actually holds the airlines accountable, unlike other aviation YouTubers who just say good things for money and sponsors.
You’d think he would be a yes-man if he wanted all these free things like a lot of you claim.
Jeez. This is really punching down. East Timor is only about 20 years old as a nation. It is the poorest nation in the region. You should think about that before you book a flight. Unless the complaint is about a safety issue, then I think this guy is taking cheap shots. I haven’t watched him, and I won’t. I have no problem taking on major airlines if their service or policies are bad. In fact, I welcome that. But this guy is basically an online punk.
Influencers are pretty much vermin to begin with and this one is particularly odious even by influencer standards but even though he’s a P.O.S. drama queen the airline should have shown a little more decorum here.
See any of his other reviews on YouTube and one will rapidly discover Cahill’s a chronic malcontent
From posting your private data online to being thrown off by a stewardess if you annoy her slightly, airlines sure think they’re high and mighty these days.
Despite his negative reviews and complaining how is this even legal. Seems the airline should have been a bit more professional
Cahill is a product review overuse. Not a very smart man.
Two things can be simultaneously true: Josh is overly dramatic in titling his videos, and Aero Dili is a sketchy and untrustworthy operator. There is enough corroboration of Josh’s other reviews from YouTubers who film anonymously (such as Flip Flop Traveler) for me to think he accepts any sponsorships, much less solicits them.
I think that Cahill’s problem is that he comes across as a spoiled westerner. Who (not avgeeks) reads airline reviews before they choose to fly with them. The traveling public normally choose an airline based on price, frequency and direct flights for the most part. Cahill needs to humble himself some. He does eat, breathe and speak airline. Perhaps he’ll read these comments and realize how he is coming across to his public audience.
He’s German, which means even though it’s East Timor, the airline has to follow GDPR. So they could still end up in some trouble here
Aljoscha Wendholt claims to be authentic, but the fact that he used a fake name and actively tried to censor his real name on Wikipedia shows that his “authenticity” is just a branding. That’s why I stopped watching his videos, it’s all just a show.
Second, he has a delusion of grandeur. He once tried to send his army to get the President of Sri Lanka to respond to him. He whined to the US Embassy when they rejected his visa (most likely because he went to “problematic” countries like Iran).
In the Aero Dili video, he was extremely aggressive to the station manager. The problem was totally his own fault because he put Josh Cahill in his boarding pass while having Aljoscha Wendholt in his passport. Further, his accusation of food poisoning was baseless. He had no proof that the cause was the food in the airline, it would have been too fast and it could totally be the food he had in Bali.
I must be old but I don’t understand this whole vlogger / influencer trend. Most of them are just brand / marketing ambassadors of some sort, sometimes with juicy contracts. They tend to be good looking, but that’s about it. I wouldn’t trust these reviews at all.
@Bigev007 – i don’t believe there is any caselaw applying GDPR to a European citizen’s private information collected from a business with no European presence while that citizen is outside the EU?
The application of GDPR generally hinges on the presence of the entity within the EU or the targeting of its activities towards individuals in the EU, rather than the citizenship of the data subject alone.
Generally GDPR applies to entities established in the EU, and those not established in the EU that offer goods or services to individuals in the EU or monitor their behavior inside the EU.
I’m not saying this interpretation is impossible (!) but it would seem to stretch it to a scenario for which there isn’t any regulatory guidance or caselaw that I have seen. But I am not an expert in this area and would love for others to weigh in.
I will not fly that airline ever!
I have reviewed the airlines policies and agree that they are inviolation of the most important protections to passengers. It seems that several negative comments to this email are apparently not supported by research.
Cahill’s response to his unfortunate experience on the email was true. The airline chose the wrong approach and should pay the consequences.
Thank you
@Bigev007 That’s… not how laws work.
True or not this guy got what he wanted, publicity. I’ve never heard of this person and these so-called influencers have never influenced me.
But I will say this I will certainly avoid any video of his that it pops up.
Your website formatting is so intolerably awful. Thanks for the OMAAT link.
Cahill talks too much. At times he hardly shows the food and does not even bother showing the legroom. However I believe what Qatar did to him was indeed true. Had no idea the problem with Dili was due to his using two different names. He used to tell us that Iraq was safe and then one week later there was a suicide bomber. Then Afghanistan was safe and the US fled a few weeks later. He adored Iran until Iran Air gave him bad service.He lives in Sri Lanka. Had no idea the US turned him down for a visa.
Cahill looks like the kind of guy that beats his wife and then blames it on his neighbor
I’ve watched a few of his videos and he’s just a smirking cunt, it’s like he pretends to be polite but he’s just an obnoxious, full of himself idiot, did watch quite a few videos, but would never subscribe and never watch any video again, he can go F himself, there are plenty of down to earth flight bloggers and nerds out there that posts wonderful content.
One thing is for certain – Josh Cahill is loving every minute of this, and the attention he is getting. The guy is obviously a fake, and I stop subscribing to his videos.
He is indeed dramatic but what some airlines have done in response shows how corrupt the industry is.
The airline isn’t exactly denying it.
“Aero Dili Initiates Investigation in Response to Allegations by Mr. Cahill
Aero Dili, the first Timor-Leste aviation service provider, is actively investigating the serious allegations made by Mr. Cahill, a YouTuber. Mr. Cahill has alleged that an Aero Dili ground staff posted his passport on social media without prior authorization and further claimed that an Aero Dili pilot also threatened to make his passport public.
The Aero Dili management recognizes the gravity of the allegations and commits to uncovering the facts surrounding the claims with a thorough examination of the circumstances.
If the investigation reveals any substantiated evidence of wrongdoing, Aero Dili pledges to take decisive actions against those responsible.
The company reaffirms its commitment to maintaining the highest safety standards, compliance, and ethical conduct.
Aero Dili further emphasizes that violations will not be tolerated in its future services. The company expresses sincere gratitude for the trust placed by passengers and regulatory bodies and remains unwavering in its dedication to upholding the integrity of its operations.
Sincerely,
Aero Dili Service Transport?
It rather seems that many people here in the comments are biased. Cahill is basically showing issues that could happen to anyone of us. Like him or not, nobody cares. But the fact that some companies are doing such things, cannot be ignored.
Unlike the many people who don’t watch Cahill and are sure that the story is true, I do subscribe and on that basis find AirDili’s story implausible and feel very confident that it is false.
Its rhe way Cahill deals with these issues. If it did happen he could go deal with it in a less hysterical, attention seeking, narcissistic way. He is 100% phony and loses credibility because of this. He is a performer, from fake name, pseudo Ozzie accent, nebulous information about everything. I do find him entertaining which is what its all about in the end.
@David Howe so true about the fake ozzie accent. He made small grammar mistakes that no natives would make, like saying “explain me how…” instead of “explain to me how…”
I travel that route regularly, nothing but praise for them.
This Cahill dude should stay at home period.
Air Dili and its crew are very kind and helpful, this Cahill clown never saw this flood coming.
Fraudster
So, isn’t It a crime to Post someone’s passport online for the entire world to see ? Lots of very confidential information on that…
Not saying the reviewer was right or wrong, but Airline did something seriously illegal…
Seems 90 %of people on here have a bigger problem that josh has, they have real downer on the guy from the off, I don’t watch him all the time but from what I have seen he seems quite honest. Been around 75 years now had many businesses over the years traveled to many countries, so think I am quite good judge of people.
Sorry can’t agree. I similar in age to you – have travelled and worked all over. I know a phony poser when I see one. I imagine he is getting his supporters to contribute as well.
One suspects that more than a few of the Anti Cahill posters here are Air Dili employees
Sounds like Cahill sponsored this article
Bullshit , cahill smells like a liar and he is arrogant , i hope all the airlines worldwide will ban him from flying , he will travel by donkey or rent a cow
If the guy travels so much then I can’t understand why he would make the booking under an alias/pseudonym rather than the name on his passport.