American Airlines Refuses to Filter Porn on Flights
American Airlines, the nation's largest carrier, has refused to install an internet filter to block porn sites from being viewed in-flight, ignoring the request by flight attendants and an anti-porn group.
The Association of Professional Flight Attendants has urged the airlines to place filters on its in-flight Wi-Fi service to block objectionable material like hardcore pornography. They are concerned passengers could get into arguments about what people are looking at in the sky, NBC's Channel 5 in Dallas reported.
"Our members are telling us they're concerned about it. There are certainly enough pressures in the airplane already. We just don't want one more thing to add to it," said APFA representative Frank Bastion.
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American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith said in a statement that the vast majority of passengers use good judgment on what they view while on board the airline's planes.
"Customers viewing inappropriate material on board a flight is not a new scenario for our crews, who have always managed this issue with great success," he stated.
Girls Against Porn, a group associated with obscenity-watchdog Morality in Media, said American Airlines is opening the door for lawsuits with its current policy.
"The airlines are taking a risk, opening themselves up to lawsuits from customers who are exposed to porn or the effects," reads a letter which Girls Against Porn plans to send to AA.
The letter, which will be co-signed by other organizations, also expressed concern for the children passengers who might be exposed to obscene material.
"If passengers who view porn, decide to act upon that, if there is a child flying in that row, airlines have opened the door for traumatic experiences and lawsuits," the letter states.
The group noted that American Airlines has already been sued for $200,000, by a passenger who alleges while sleeping woke up to find a substance in her hair, from another passenger masturbating.
Girls Against Porn is asking the public and parents to contact American Airlines Communications at corp.comm@aa.com, or call AA headquarters to urge that they apply filters to Internet services immediately.
