Qantas red-faced after raunchy film played for every passenger on flight to Tokyo

Qantas has apologised after an R-rated film was played during a flight to Tokyo, with passengers unable to turn off their screens.

Qantas has apologised after screening an R-rated film on all the seat back screens on a flight to Tokyo.

Qantas has apologised after a whole plane-load of passengers were subject to a graphic R-rated film on a flight from Sydney to Tokyo Haneda.

The flight was initially delayed in Sydney due to a technical issue with the in-flight entertainment, which meant individual selection was not available.

Crew members had a limited selection of films available to them and after consulting a number of passengers the film “Daddio” was chosen for the flight.

When it became apparent the movie was not suitable for all ages — featuring nudity and graphic language — cabin crew attempted to fix the screens of those who did not want to watch.

That was not possible, so the film was changed to Inside Out 2, a PG-rated animation, followed by a New Zealand nature show.

A Qantas spokeswoman said the film initially screened was “clearly not suitable to play for the whole flight and we sincerely apologise to customers for this experience”.

“All screens were changed to a family friendly movie for the rest of the flight, which is our standard practice for the rare cases where individual movie selection isn’t possible,” said the spokeswoman.

“We are reviewing how the movie was selected.”

Qantas seat-back entertainment screens.

Passengers on the flight took to social media to express their dismay at what transpired during the flight.

One Qantas customer said they placed a pamphlet over the seat back screen of the child next to them, after “40 minutes of penis and boobs”.

“These poor kids and their parents because you should’ve heard the audible gasps across the plane,” wrote the passenger.

“(The film) was featuring Dakota Johnson and I really thought they were playing Madame Web or something — I honestly don’t know if that would’ve been worse.”

Another passenger who was on the flight said the screens could not be turned off, meaning there was no way to avoid the images on display.

Qantas confirmed crew apologised to customers in-flight, “particularly those who had complained about the content”.

The airline’s customer team also planned to follow up with all customers on the flight.

In 2023, Qantas revealed more than 80 million hours were spent using the airline’s in-flight entertainment, up from 60 million the previous year.

The most watched film was Barbie starring Margot Robbie, followed by Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Ticket to Paradise.

Bluey was the most watched children’s show, and The White Lotus the most popular television series ahead of Succession.

Originally published as Qantas red-faced after raunchy film played for every passenger on flight to Tokyo