Etihad worker used airline data to WhatsApp me creepy messages, says British woman

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Etihad worker used airline data to WhatsApp me creepy messages, says British woman | Secret Flying

Woman disturbed as Etihad worker sends unsolicited messages.

 

An airline passenger received unsolicited WhatsApp messages from a contractor working for Etihad Airways while she was waiting to board a flight from Abu Dhabi to Manchester, she has said.

 

Hannah Smethurst was heading home to Preston from her break when she received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number.

 

Explaining what happened in a social media post, Hannah wrote: “A guy who works for the @etihad airline used my personal data which he found via the airline database after seeing my passport to get my phone number and proceeded to text me.

 

The exchange started: ‘Hey. I have seen you from Abu Dhabi.’

 

Hannah replied: ‘How did you get this number?’

 

The unnamed third-party contractor added: ‘Sorry.’

 

She said she asked again: ‘How did you get my number?’

 

To which she got another message saying: ‘I searched you in the system.’

 

Shocked, Hannah asked in the messages: ‘What system?’

 

The contractor added: ‘I am working.’

 

She responded: ‘Yes what system?

 

‘The hotel or the airline?’

 

She got a reply saying: ‘Airline. Sorry for the trouble. If am disturbing you. Just block me. FYI Your flight is boarding.’

 

 

Smethurst said the experience left her feeling concerned about her safety.

 

“I was alone, so I just felt really vulnerable because it stuck in my mind that he knows my number, knows my home address and my full name and email address and obviously everything you give the airline when you book,” she said.

 

“I just felt vulnerable and scared. [It] made me feel like he knew what was going on and where I was going.”

 

Smethurst said that airport staff in Abu Dhabi were initially dismissive when she reported the incident. She spoke to a manager who offered to take her off the flight so she could file a police report, but warned that she would have to wait until the following day for the next direct flight to Manchester.

 

“I just rang my mum who tried to calm me down and then just got on the flight, because they only do one a day back to Manchester so I thought: I’m not waiting around,” she said.

 

“I landed in Manchester, it was then actually the Manchester Etihad customer services who were great and they helped me out loads.”

 

Etihad said its team had initiated a full investigation after speaking to Smethurst and establishing that there had been “inappropriate conduct by an employee of a third-party contractor”.

 

An airline spokesperson said: “As a result of the investigation, the relevant employee involved has been disciplined in accordance with the contractor’s disciplinary procedures. The privacy and safety of our guests is our No 1 priority and we sincerely apologise for the distress caused to our guest.”