US Airways apologized for accidentally tweeting an X-rated pornographic photo to one of its followers, but the airline says no one is going to be fired because of the mishap.
The US Airways Twitter account accidentally tweeted a photo of a woman putting a toy airplane in an inappropriate place on Monday. The tweet caused US Airways to be a trending topic and the incident gained worldwide attention. The photo was attached to a response to a Twitter user who had written "You ruined my spring break, I want some free stuff." The airline wrote back "We Welcome feedback, Elle. If your travel is complete, you can detail it here for review and follow-up."
It seems that the airline was supposed to tweet a link to a feedback site, but instead included a link to the obscene photo.
The airline soon deleted the Tweet and said "We apologize for an inappropriate image recently sent as a link in one of our responses. We've removed the tweet and are investigating."
However the image had already made its rounds across the Internet. Even though it was a huge mistake, US Airways, now part of American Airlines, isn't punishing the employee who tweeted the image, saying it was "an honest mistake."
The Washington Post asked the airline if the employee would be punished or fired over the incident, to which American spokesman Matt Miller said, "No, absolutely not. It was an honest mistake."
The airline says that the incident happened because a Twitter user had sent the airline the photo. An airline Twitter employee flagged the photo for removal, but they somehow managed to include the image in response to another customer.
The airline repeatedly apologized. "First and foremost, we apologize," Miller told the New York Daily News. "We are in the midst of reviewing our processes but for the most part we have an understanding of what happened and how to ensure how it won't happen in the future."
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