FACT CHECK: Photo of airport staff 'apologizing' for flight delays falsely linked to IT outage

Claim: A photo shows Japan Airlines (JAL) staff at the Manila International Airport (MIA) bowing to passengers to apologize for flight delays.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The claim was made in a July 20 post that has 191,000 reactions, 5,500 comments, and 11,000 shares as of writing. The photo started circulating a day after the July 19 global cyber outage. The page that posted the said photo has 79,000 followers. Other Facebook pages reposted the picture on July 23 with the same caption.

According to the posts, JAL employees lined up and bowed to passengers to apologize for flight delays. While the photo is pixelated, employees wearing white and light blue uniforms can be seen in front of the check-in counters.

“The Japanese reputation for courtesy and attentiveness is unshakeable,” the post added.

The July 19 global cyber outage, caused the delays and cancellation of several flights, including those of airlines in the Philippines. The timing of the misleading post implies that the actions of the airport staff done in response to the cyber outage; several comments on the posts made reference to that outage and praised the supposed “Japanese” staff for “apologizing” over the incident.

The facts: The photo circulating on social media is not linked to the massive tech outage that crippled industries worldwide on July 19. A reverse image search shows that Vietnamese news outlet Kenh14.vn posted the photo in 2018, saying that it was taken in Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

Contrary to the claim, the airport staff in the photo are not from JAL. Citing a representative of Vietnam Airlines, the article from Kenh14.vn said that the image depicted staff from the Vietnam Airport Ground Services Company serving at the JAL counter.

The light blue uniforms seen in the photo match the uniforms of the Vietnam Airlines female flight attendants. Meanwhile, JAL’s uniforms are a much darker blue with red accents. The check-in counter in the photo also matches other photos of the JAL check-in counter in Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

According to the article, the details behind the incident were unclear, with the person who took the photo claiming that the airport staff bowed to apologize for flight delays, although this was disputed by other commenters. A representative of Vietnam Airlines, however, told Kenh14.vn that the staff were bowing to passengers before opening the check-in counters.

ALSO ON RAPPLER

Tech outage: A software update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike caused systems problems worldwide, with thousands of computers and devices affected by a defect found in a single content update for Microsoft Windows hosts.

Air passengers around the world were affected by flight delays, cancellations, and problems checking in at airports. On July 19, CrowdStrike said it had deployed a fix for the issue.

NAIA, not MIA: The misleading post refers to the Philippines’ airport as MIA, the former name of the country’s main international gateway before it was renamed the Ninoy Aquino International Airport by virtue of Republic Act No. 6639.

Several bids to rename the airport have been pursued, but none have succeeded.

Previous fact checks: Rappler has debunked false claims about airports and airlines:

– Shay Du/Rappler.com

Shay Du is a Rappler intern. She is an incoming fourth-year mass communication student at Silliman University. This fact check was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. Learn more about Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program here.

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