An aviation YouTuber who posted a negative review of Qatar Airways over its “outdated planes, dirty cabins” and “unmotivated” crew said he was barred from flying with the airline ever again because of the video.
Josh Cahill, who boasts more than 650,000 subscribers on YouTube, shared a video titled “THE SHOCKING DECLINE OF QATAR AIRWAYS” in August, which he described as “a comprehensive flight review.”
After the 13-minute video — which took issue with everything from the welcome-aboard greeting to the seating arrangement, entertainment options and food — Cahill posted a follow-up video on Dec. 16 claiming that Qatar asked him to take the video down, offering him a free flight if he complied.
Cahill said he refused, and Qatar Airways attempted to compromise by asking that he remove any negative comments posted on his video.
When he denied their request a second time, the Doha-based airline sent an email to Cahill informing him that it had canceled a future booking he had on a Qatar Airways flight and banned him from ever traveling with the airline again.
“The flight was booked before I was banned and posted the video,” Cahill told The Post. “For safety reasons I wouldn’t fly Qatar anymore even if they unban me because I’d most likely get arrested in Doha. However the whole ‘unban’ movement is to set an example that airlines shouldn’t get away with censoring flight reviewers.”
The email obtained by Business Insider cited the airline’s “conditions of carriage,” which give Qatar broad discretion to refuse service to passengers.
Cahill said in the video that he received an email from a staff member on the flight he filmed, saying she had not given him permission to record her.
She also told the YouTuber — who blurred any faces that appeared in the review video besides his own — that she feared she would be fired if she didn’t send that email.
Cahill told Insider that he hasn’t been in contact with anyone from Qatar Airways since his December video, but was “surprised by Qatar’s drastic response.”
“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,” he added. “That was indeed a first-timer.”
The Post has sought comment from Cahill and Qatar Airways.
In his review of the airline, Cahill walked through his entire experience, starting with boarding.
“This is certainly not the Qatar Airways I remember,” he said as soon as he stepped onto the plane.
“Crew were turning their back to me without saying hello, being suer cold and not the slightest interest in their customer, who paid a lot of money to fly with them today.”
Once on board, he called the plane an “old lady” for its 275 seats arranged in a 242 seating configuration and “outdated” TV screen with “underwhelming” screen quality.
It was also the first time in more than 600 flights that Cahill said an airline had run out of snack choices by the time the cart reached his seat, “and I wasn’t even sitting in the back of the plane,” he noted.
The video has since amassed more than 620,000 views.
Many commenters shared having a similar experience with the airline which, despite the negative reviews, touts on its website that it topped Skytrax’s World’s Best Business Class ranking for the 10th consecutive year.
“You have put my experience in words and motion, which I couldn’t do myself,” one commenter wrote to Cahill. “I had always looked forward to flying the best airline in the world, Qatar Airways, and when I did, I asked myself why it was given that title in the first place.”
“I had a business class flight with QR from Doha to Munich this summer and I have to say that the service was sub-standard… The crew was negligent, didn’t prepare the food as requested, forgot the beverages accompanying the lunch and were snappy when I complained. Not what you expect from the best airline,” another wrote.
Others shared that they had worked for the airline, and poor working conditions drained staffers’ motivation to be friendly to customers.
“As a flight attendant at Qatar Airways you are definitely right,” one user chimed in. “One mishap here and there, one tissue upside down and I’m scared I will be fired. I have been flying continuously for the last week, twice I did turnaround flights to Europe sectors. Twice. No rest whatsoever.”
“I work as a receptionist at a hotel that accommodates Qatar crew near Heathrow. Poor people are exhausted, they get treated like sh*t by the company and and hence there is no motivation,” another shared.
