A Delta passenger says a crew member told her he took a photo of her while she was asleep on her flight, then joked that he might post it on Facebook. The story has spread fast on TikTok, and it raises a question plenty of travelers have never thought to ask: can a flight attendant take photos of passengers? Delta has reportedly said it will investigate.
The passenger, TikTok creator Tasia Jewel, says the flight was about three hours long, from Austin to Mexico City, as she traveled from the Formula 1 race in Austin to the Mexico City Grand Prix. She says she slept for roughly half of it, and that nothing seemed off until she was getting off the plane.
What She Says Happened
According to Jewel, a male flight attendant standing by the aircraft door told her, "Hey, yo friend, I took a picture of you while you were sleeping." When she asked what he meant, she says he answered, "Yeah, I might just post it on Facebook." She says other crew members nearby laughed, and one added that she'd been "knocked out."
Jewel says she walked away feeling "incredibly unsafe," and in her video she called for the crew member to be fired. Some commenters argued he was just joking, which she rejected. Her point is simple. A stranger in uniform said he'd photographed her while she was asleep and in no position to object, then talked about sharing it.
It's worth being clear about what's known. Everything about the exchange comes from Jewel's own account. It hasn't been confirmed that a photo was actually taken, and there's no sign it was ever posted online.
What Delta Has Said
Jewel says she filed a formal complaint, and Delta has reportedly promised to look into it. The airline hasn't publicly said what it found or whether the employee has been disciplined.
Airlines tend to take this kind of complaint seriously, because crew members are expected to protect passengers' privacy and most carriers have rules about what employees post online. Flight attendants at several airlines have lost their jobs over social media posts in the past, including posts about passengers. Whether that happens here will depend on what Delta's investigation turns up.
If you've ever tried to get an answer out of an airline after a bad experience, you'll know it can take a while. Our guide to reaching a real person at Delta covers the fastest ways to get through.
If It Happens to You
Sleeping on a plane means trusting the people around you, crew included, so it's reasonable to expect that nobody is photographing you while you're out. If a crew member or another passenger takes a photo of you without asking, ask them to delete it while you're still on board. Write down your flight number, your seat and anything that identifies the crew member, like a name tag, since that detail is what makes a complaint easy for the airline to act on.
After the flight, file a complaint with the airline in writing so there's a record. If you aren't happy with how the airline handles it, you can also file a complaint with the US Department of Transportation, which tracks complaints against airlines. Crew members deal with a lot on every flight, as one flight attendant explained in our look at what happens when a passenger loses it onboard, but photographing a sleeping passenger and joking about posting it isn't part of the job.
