British Airways Investigating Employees For Online Comments

ReputationDefender Blog recently wrote about 13 Virgin Atlantic Employees who were fired for posting comments online. Now it looks like British Airways is looking at comments made online by several of its personnel. Special thanks to the Jaunted Blog for their great write ups of both stories.

Never one to let Virgin Atlantic have all the fun, now British Airways is investigating employees after they posted criticisms of passengers on a now-depopulated Facebook group called “London Gatwick Ground Staff.”

The Telegraph reports that a big complaint was passengers who put boarding passes in their mouths before handing them over to gate personnel–definitely something worth griping about. Customers were also called “smelly and annoying.” (Fliers from the US got a special shout-out for their “stupid American accents.”)

BA promises it “will be talking to the individuals concerned,” but the airline hasn’t gone so far as to say it will fire staff who made the comments. Still, as an airline that created its own social media site and maintains a Twitter account, you’d think they’d already have a policy in place regarding employee behavior online. We’re thinking something like, “Do whatever you want when you’re off the clock–as long as it isn’t completely embarrassing.”

Even though these employees haven’t been terminated, the fact that their online comments are being investigated by their employer is still cause for concern. Regular readers of the ReputationDefender Blog will realize that the content that people post online can have real world consequences (see, for example, the Facebook Bandit, who was sentenced to two years in jail because of his Social Networking Profiles).

Having an online presence that is an accurate reflection of yourself is vital in the information age. With employers, peers and business contacts all forming opinions based on what they find online, effectively managing one’s internet identity is a must. Modern day professionals and students must be proactive and control their personal brand online. The benefits of a strong online presence are immense for individuals as well as businesses. An accurate, relevant internet reputation is akin to Life Assurance for the Internet^TM.

ReputationDefender is the leader in the Online Reputation Management field, and encourages everyone to take control of their online reputation.