A United Airlines business class passenger was caught watching porn on his phone throughout a long haul flight. A woman in the cabin, uncomfortable with this, took photos of what he was doing and asked a flight attendant to intervene. The crewmember stepped in, telling the man “you can’t watch that.” But the passenger seemingly wasn’t as enthused about the airline’s own inflight entertainment offerings.
@united Are there no consequences for watching porn on your planes? This man watched porn on and off for most of the flight. The flight attendant did tell him “you can’t watch that” after I complained & showed him these pics that I took from my seat. Cont… pic.twitter.com/ZFoZJraE9n
— WWJenD she/her 👩🏻⚕️👩🏻🔬💉🌊🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈✊🏾 (@momxfourboys) June 13, 2023
The passenger stopped watching the porn he’d brought on board after being asked by a flight attendant – boy, that would have been an awkward conversation! – but then he went right back at it.
I think there are some things that we can probably all agree cross a line. A flight attendant once shared on their Facebook feed a story about a passenger taking such a long time in the lavatory that another passenger expressed concern and eventually the crew started to suspect a medical emergency. After much knocking he came out, iPad in hand. He went in there to watch a movie. At least he hadn’t watched it at his seat.
Still, what movies are ok and which ones aren’t? What about inflight entertainment that shows Boogie Nights with Mark Wahlberg? I’m never watching that kind of movie. But what about an HBO or Showtime drama?
In a premium cabin you usually have a bit more space, and maybe high walls. This woman photographed the porn-watching man over the back of the seat. She couldn’t see him watching it when she was seated. But it still wasn’t furtive enough. What about a nicer business class seat than United’s with more room and walls?
United Airlines Polaris Business Class
The passenger sharing the incident complains about the possibility of children seeing this, and suggested she felt unsafe as a woman going to sleep on a plane while someone is watching this. Probably it’s not that there is a man who would watch porn on board that’s concerning, rather the man watching porn reminds her that there are men on board and many likely objectify women. It’s a reminder of the reality that’s disconcerting.
When you report the incident you do have to hope, of course, that your flight attendant isn’t watching porn. Air Canada once warned pilots to stop leaving porn in the cockpit. And Etihad pilots once wrote up their inflight wifi for being too slow to download porn.
No doubt it’s not acceptable passenger behavior, but the female twitter user claims that she felt “unsafe” as a result. That seems a bit much.
Was that Bill Gates?
Kind of a resemblance
If she couldn’t see it except by peering over into his private space she’s simply a controlling busybody.
I’m divided on this. I don’t like that the man watched porn. But there are movies on in-flight selections with full nudity and sexual situations. What about music with profanity? Or alcohol because there are minors in the cabin? I’ve always thought allowing children to airline lounges with self-serve alcohol could be objectionable for some customers.
I also don’t like someone taking a picture of another customer on the plane and publishing it. Isn’t that a violation of United’s in-flight photography policy? There’s no way that customer actually saw the porn without standing up or walking down the aisle.
Later in the thread she said he had the sound on. That’s the line for me regardless of the content.
As for being ‘visible’ – she had to stand up and hover over his seat to see it. Tells me this wasn’t visible to other pax going up and down the aisle, let alone a child too short to see over the wall. MYOB if the sound wasn’t on.
@roundtree: why so hard to understand? The guy is comfortable viewing porn on board, ignoring the request to stop. What is hard to assume he could take it further to harm the person that reported him? He is a pig.
I’ve experienced this more than once on domestic flights. Of course, some people on here will go down the “mind your own business” route…and they’re missing the point. There are socially-acceptable standards of behavior in public, and an airplane is public space. Your seat or “suite” is not private space. It does not have floor-to-ceiling walls and a door you can lock.
If people can be told that clothing that is too revealing or that has obscene comments is inappropriate and needs to be covered in order to travel it only seems reasonable to ask people to save their spank bank collection for a more appropriate venue.
Imagine the upcoming future with VR goggles, now that Apple has joined in.
Giggity.
What a “Karen”. Just don’t look lady and quit whining!
The guy is 100% gross for doing it in public or “semi-public” as it were. No excuse, and I’d put him on a no fly list just like the violent and other ne’er-do-wells that make it onto this blog. But judging by this woman’s Twitter profile at first glance, there are plenty of things she’d be ok with that other people aren’t.
There is a slippery slope here.
What if the airline says no using Tinder or Match.com during the flight? I’ve seen FLIGHT ATTENDANTS access Tinder, Grinder and other apps in-flight before. I saw my neighboring passenger use Craigslist back in the day when Craigslist was used by prostitutes.
Where do you draw the line?
As airlines roll out free wifi, maybe they need to block certain websites.
But would that work? You can access porn on Twitter.
What about someone’s partner, wife, husband, girlfriend, boyfriend or whatever texting suggestive photos?
In the old days, passengers brought Playboy on the flight with them. Is a naked woman or a topless woman really a big deal in 2023 when men with fake boobs dressed as women are showing their fake boobs on the lawn of the White House?
There is just no easy answer.
How about this: men agree not to watch porn on board and women agree not to read “romance” novels?
From the photos I cannot tell if it is a normal movie or really porn. What I can tell is that she invaded his privacy to take the photos.
“made me feel unsafe”
Lost her argument there. She thinks that phrase automatically means she is in the right.
Perhaps this is when your whip out…the Oculus! Or the Apple thingy that costs as much as a last minute first class seat.
What is considered normal or acceptable now a days? Had some porn on the whitehouse lawn yesterday and Joe said these are the some of the bravest people he knows. so there you go.
Clearly an unmet demand, opportunity for some enterprising airline exec to create a porn friendly section of the aircraft with a modest upcharge for those interested 🙂
Dumb broad literally had to position herself to spy on this guy’s phone in his own private seat.
Notice all the trans flag, bluewave, vaxx icons in her twitter profile. Typical unhinged lib.
Not sure it’s porn. He may just be looking at pictures of stunning nekked women, which of course we all know is just horrible.
His choice of *where* to view his fap material is certainly poor.
And where did this ‘I feel unsafe’ crap come from in our society?
Lady, life is unsafe.
@roundtree – what qualifies you to tell the woman how she should feel? Because you’ve decided the guy isn’t a threat is supposed to be comforting to her?
She has a twitter account created in late 2009. One of the top tell-tale signs of a bot. Only 230 followers despite 14 years on the platform. Another sign of a bot.
‘Her’ account is a stream of anti-this and that complaints. Of course about politics. Anti Trump / GOP diatribes nothing else. No personal media or anything personal. More bot-like behavior.
Still has Covid shot emojis. So lesser used account.
The alphabet people Icons/symbols also scream bot.
Weird.
@Ray, if you suspect someone watching porn is a rapist waiting for his opportunity, what do you suspect from someone watching murder?
I agree that having the sound on is a problem, whatever the topic of the movie. But I’m not sure I believe it was on. This was business class; headphones are provided automatically and freely.
looking at that emoji lineup, this person is a full time victim. Were there any other complaints? You’re in biz. I don’t understand why you would want to watch porn on an airplane, but I could never take the complainant seriously
The question is quite simple, how would you feel if your 12 year old daughter was seated next to this guy? If it were my daughter, I would be furious.
@FNT folks like you seem to think a dude with a fake pair of tits is obscene so, yes, a naked or topless woman IS a big deal.
You and people like you can’t have it both ways. If you are going to censor an entertainer and demand they not perform in places where there might be children you damn well better be telling people they cannot look at sexualized images of people where children can potentially see.
I wonder if this guy was looking at kiddie porn all the RWNJs on here would still be howling that she had no right to “invade his privacy” in a public space.
I’m skeptical of the “sound on” accusation. Flight attendants are pretty quick to shut down passengers who refuse to use headphones.
Agree this may be a bot. No credible person who feels “unsafe” is going to keep watching, filming, and sharing the porn.
Different cultures have different values.
In Europe, it is common to see topless women on public beaches, everybody considers it normal. Same, I have witnessed lots of time people getting completely naked in public parks in Germany (and also in San Francisco!)
In Saudi Arabia, it would be considered obscene for a woman to show even just her ankles in public!
Different places, different traditions.
It is clear that anything linked to nudity or sex is very taboo in the US so on UA that is a problem.
In general, the rule is to respect the local tradition when you behave in public and a plane is a public place.
“The question is quite simple, how would you feel if your 12 year old daughter was seated next to this guy?”
No, that’s not a “simple” question, that’s known as “cherry-picking”.
The lady was not snooping, she simply got up to get out of her seat and noticed porn on the sleazeball’s phone screen. There is no right to privacy to watch porn in your airplane seat! What if an unaccompanied minor was sitting by this sleazeball watching porn? It would be scary and the kid might be too intimidated to ask for help. The story says he went right back to watching when the FA left. Behavior of people on a plane keeps sinking to new lows. Sleazeballs caught watching porn ought to be taught a lesson by being banned from flying for a painful period of time.
It’s none of her business. It was in his own private space. Partly his fault too; He should have just hidden the screen from her view.
Feels unsafe? Really, now, while there have been cases of hands going where they shouldn’t on a sleeping passenger next to the person she’s in another row.
With the images censored I don’t think we have enough to tell if it’s truly porn or simply sex scenes in a movie. Given what has been posted about her Twitter account her veracity is suspect.
I’m incredulous at these comments. Porn or a movie? Excuse me all, what non-porn movie has ever featured the camera angle shown in the pic above?
I’m not defending someone watching porn in a semi-private space.
But to say, “if he feels comfortable watching porn, what might he do next?” Is a bit much. Should I feel uncomfortable anytime a female boards with kids in tow? She had sex! She’s clearly a pervert and might try to rape me on board!
Or, “hmm, he’s reading the Bible. He might come after me next and try to convert me!” “She’s reading Harry Potter, she might try to cast a spell on me cause she’s clearly a witch!”
Again, better places to do that kind of thing, not defending it on a plane, for this reason that some nosy person is going to say something.
But a Polaris seat is pretty private! Unless your eyes are lingering where they shouldn’t be (on other people’s phones), then there would be a low chance of seeing this. If in economy, totally different story (the racist dude messaging his friends about the black lady sitting next to him while he’s in the middle seat, there’s no expectation of privacy there).
It’s just courtesy not to unless in a premium product with full privacy. There are other times and places.
If it’s visible to others, it’s not “viewed in private”. Besides that, it violates UA’s wi-fi TOU:
“You also agree not to use the Internet to view material that is unsuitable for minors or otherwise inappropriate or offensive.” (https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/travel/inflight/wifi/terms.html)
UA employ filtering software on its network, but that’s another slippery slope.
Headline
Man watching porn in business class complained that his seat belt kept tightening
Karen
If the guy was minding his own business, then why not??!! People are WAY too sensitive and get ben out of shape over the most idiotic things. Maybe if he’d had the volume turned way up then possibly too far, but even still…why is it ok and acceptable to have a baby screaming at the top of their lungs, but this man can’t watch something that he wants on his phone? Heck, most airlines force people to watch ‘on their own device’.
The inappropriate one here is the lady that objected as she was clearly invading his reasonable right to privacy and wanted to infringe her own desires on to some one else. As long as the guy was staying to himself, there is absolutely no reason he should have changed what he was watching on his own device.
I have this to say. 1st amendment says he can do it. It you do not like it move to another country. This is freedom of speech.
Twitter lady annoying and should STFU. However, if this was truly porn, there is something wrong with Mr. Porn Watcher too. Who in their right mind watches porn without the goal of imminent “completion”? Maybe an employee of Mr. Skin? Not the right space to be doing so. Throw them both off…
Come on, felt “unsafe.” Really!?!?
Just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean you get to prohibit it.
I was on AA a few years back, they had Tour de Pharmacy on the IFE. Actual sex and private parts shown. Lady complained “what about the kids! Think of the children!” AA politely told her to screw off, not AA job to police what people watch. Also that the children could look away and not load it on their screen, nothing forced them to see it.
Unless law requires airlines shouldn’t be in business of censorship. There’s people fromm all different views on board. Where do we pick the line? Muslims onboard? No alcohol or showing of skin. People from Israel? Nothing discussing Palestine. Etc..
If he is not using earphones and flaunting what he is watching then that’s a problem. If not mind your own damm business
Just watched “John Wick 4” on a huge and easily visible screen on my last international flight as the number one promoted film on the IFE.
Kill count allegedly 120 or whatever…