Airline Founder Faces Fine After Influencer Took Selfies in Cockpit

• An airline founder faces a fine after allowing an influencer into the cockpit. 
• Influencer Sam Chui posted a selfie with Starlux Airlines founder Chang Kuo-wei on Instagram. 
• Kuo-wei may have violated flight operation regulations.

The founder of a Taiwanese airline is facing a $2,000 fine after letting an influencer take a selfie in the cockpit, according to various reports including the Independent and local news outlets Liberty Times Net and Taiwan News. 

Chang Kuo-wei, the chairman of luxury airline Starlux Airlines who is also a pilot, flew the company’s first flight from Taipei to Los Angeles on April 26, Liberty Times Net reported. Kuo-wei invited internet influencer Sam Chui into the cockpit for a photo without first getting approval from the Civil Aviation Administration (CAA).

Chui, who operates an aviation experience YouTube channel with over three million subscribers, posted the photo with Kuo-wei on Instagram saying: “What a great inaugural flight of @starluxairlines from Taipei to Los Angeles. Not everyday the chairman of an airline flies his passengers personally!” 

The post currently has over 20,000 likes. Chui was among other influencers and members of the press invited on board to experience the flight, per the Independent. 

Regulators deemed Kuo-wei’s actions as violating Taiwan’s Aircraft Flight Operation Regulations, which say: “No person may be admitted into the flight crew compartment of an aircraft except for the authorized personnel and Flight Dispatchers of the operator.”

The CAA is now investigating the situation and Kuo-wei was summoned for questioning, per Taiwan News. 

Insider reached out to the CAA and Starlux Airlines but did not immediately hear back. 

Kuo-wei could be issued with a warning or fined the equivalent of around US $2,000 if he is found in breach of violations, per Liberty Times Net.

Kuo-wei recently flew to Tokyo Narita Airport in Japan to personally apologize to passengers the morning after a Starlux flight was canceled. The flight, which was supposed to depart on May 6 at 3:45 p.m. was delayed for hours then cancelled and passengers had to sleep at the airport overnight.