Here is a new one. Today I flew UA888 from PEK to SFO in a 747-400 that is older than me, and naturally it does not have AVOD. In the middle of the flight, somewhere south of the Aleutians, I was walking through the cabin and happened to catch the map on the big screen between movies.

I love to document my flights, and as I fly over 100,000 miles a year have amassed a personal collection of thousands of map photos (and airline meals) over the years. When it showed the full route from Asia to North America, I pulled out my iphone and snapped a couple of pictures.

A flight attendant came up to me and said "Excuse me, sir, what are you doing?" And I told him that I like to document my adventures. He said, "I'm sorry, our policy does not allow photos like this. You may only take personal photos of yourself on aircraft. This policy is in the back of the United magazine. You need to delete those now."

Not really in a position to argue, I deleted one picture (because he was watching me) and just said, "Oh, I didn't know that."

I returned to my seat, and sure enough, United does indeed have a statement about this in the Hemispheres magazine:

(November 2013, p. 159)
Onboard Photo and Video Policy

United Airlines strives to provide customers with a safe and pleasant travel experience. The use of any device for photography or audio and/or video recording is permitted only for capturing personal events. Any photography or recording of other customers or airline personnel without their express consent is strictly prohibited. Any photography (still or video) or recording (audio or video) of airline procedures or aircraft equipment is strictly prohibited, except to the extent prior approval has been specifically granted by United Airlines. This policy is not a contract and does not create any legal rights or obligations.


After reading the policy, I feel that the flight attendant was wrong to stop me from photographing the map because:

1. The photos are of our aircraft location and are for my personal use.
2. The photos don't contain other customers (BTW, how about half of the pictures on airliners.net that show the cabins?)
3. The photos don't show United equipment or procedures (here come jokes about UA being worried about the screen itself even though the pictures are of the content)

Has anyone else run into this issue? Personally, I think I just got a jerk flight attendant. Pending your comments I will e-mail United for clarification on this policy. I can't believe United would have a problem with me photographing the inflight map.

Like most people on here, I think "getting there is half the fun" (and getting back is the other half) and if UA really does prohibit this I'll definitely keep it under consideration for future travel.