Airlines have rules about taking photos, video on planes
Without the shocking video, it's unlikely that
the world would have learned or cared about the violent manhandling of a
69-year-old man on a plane last month.
The outrage on social
media, the mea culpa by an airline CEO, the promise to treat customers better —
none of it would have happened.
The passengers who shot
those videos on a United Express plane in Chicago violated United's policy on
photography. By the letter of the airline's law, they too could have been
ordered off the plane.
Under United's policy,
customers can take pictures or videos with small cameras or cellphones
"provided that the purpose is capturing personal events." Filming or
photographing other customers or airline employees without their consent is
prohibited. American, Delta and Southwest have similar policies.
Passengers are accustomed
to using their cellphones to take photos and videos that they can upload to
Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Airline rules on photography are sporadically
enforced, but passengers should read them in the in-flight magazines because
there can be consequences.
This month, a United ticket
agent ordered a passenger's reservation canceled as he filmed her while disputing
a $300 baggage fee in the New Orleans airport. After Navang Oza posted his
video online, United apologized, saying that the video "does not reflect
the positive customer experience we strive to offer."
In April, a JetBlue Airways
crew called airport police to meet a man who they said continued to record a
selfie video during a security-sensitive time in flight, while the cockpit door
was opened. Michael Nissensohn insists that he wasn't recording the procedure.
"I
told them there is no rule against talking a selfie on a plane,"
Nissensohn says. He says he was ordered off the plane and held up at LaGuardia
airport in New York for more than an hour before being let go without charges.
JetBlue declined to comment on the incident. A spokesman says the airline
doesn't publish its photography policy for security reasons.
With airline customer
service in decline, videotaping is the only way that passengers can make sure
they are treated fairly, says Gary Leff, a travel blogger who has criticized
the airlines over the issue.
"The
TSA allows more photography at the checkpoint than the airlines allow on board
their planes," he says.
The Transportation Security
Administration says that photography at checkpoints is fine if people don't
take images of monitors or interfere with screeners. Travel bloggers say,
however, that people have had run-ins with TSA officers, and you should expect
to be questioned if you snap more than a casual photo of a companion.
Lawyers who specialize in
First Amendment or travel law say airlines generally cannot limit photography
or video recording in an airport because it is a public space. But airlines
have more power on planes because as private parties they are not bound by the
First Amendment.
"They are
within their rights to establish these rules, they are within their rights to
throw you off the aircraft if you continue filming,"
says Joseph Larsen, a media-law attorney in Houston.
However, there is no law
against taking photos or video on an airplane, and it is unlikely that anyone would
face legal jeopardy for taking pictures of an altercation on a plane or their
own peaceful dispute with an airline employee, Larsen says.
"If
you see something going on that is a matter of legitimate public interest,"
he says, go ahead and capture it even if you don't have express permission to
film another passenger. The man who was roughed up by airport officers on the
United Express plane, David Dao, "has already got his
settlement with United," Larsen says. "He is probably pretty happy
that was documented."
After a video of a
confrontation over a stroller between an American Airlines flight attendant and
a mother with two young children, the airline grounded the employee. The person
who shot the video violated American's policy, which prohibits "unauthorized
photography or video recording" of employees or other passengers.
Privately, airline
officials say it is unlikely they would take action in such cases. American is
reviewing its policy because of the difficulty of enforcing it.
Even if the law is on the
side of the passenger with a camera, there are practical considerations.
"Unless
it's a legitimate safety issue like annoying other people, I don't see a
problem with taking photos on a plane. But that's a call of the captain, and in
the first instance the captain is right," says Thomas
Dickerson, a retired New York state judge and author of "Travel
Law."
Passengers can challenge
the captain's judgment in court, and might win, Dickerson says, "but the
problem for consumers is, do you really want to get thrown off the plane?"
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