Revelation Of Seatback Devices Leads To Call For Payments

Aero-News April 1 Special Edition

FlyersRights.org is calling on airlines to compensate passengers that might be captured on video using cameras installed in seatback entertainment systems.

"We were shocked when we learned that there are cameras installed in some seatback entertainment systems," said Paul Hudson, president of FlyersRights.org. "But if airlines are going to potentially use images captured by hidden cameras, we think the people on those videos should be compensated for the use of those images."

Hudson said that the passenger rights organization is calling for passengers to be paid union scale, regardless of whether they are members of SAG or AFTRA. "At the very least, they should be compensated at the same rate as an extra or walk-on character in a movie or television show. No one's image should be used without proper remuneration. It's not like they volunteered to be filmed during their flight."

Among the carriers on which the systems with cameras installed on some planes is American Airlines. An AA employee not authorized to speak to the media told Aero-News that there is a clause in the ticket contract buried in the fine print that is essentially a release form that is agreed to at purchase. "It says that the purchaser cedes all rights to any images that might be captured on an airliner to the airline as a condition of travel," the source said. "We're covered eight ways from Sunday. There's no way we're going to pay people to ride with us, and all the other airlines feel the same. You might as well ask Walmart to pay you for appearing on their security cameras."

But producers of the television show Candid Camera apparently have expressed interest in obtaining the video feeds from the cameras. "Oh my, people are always at their best when they're crammed into an economy seat on an airliner. We'd get some great stuff, particularly from people sitting in a middle seat just in front of that screaming baby in the row behind them, or the passenger who's had the seat in front recline just after takeoff. The possibilities are just endless, and we'd have content for years and years and years."

FMI: www.flyersrights.org