British Airways is reversing its decision to postpone the screening of the Jewish sitcom "Hapless" on its in-flight entertainment systems, and it will indeed broadcast the Jewish sitcom on its in-flight entertainment systems after facing severe criticism for its initial choice to postpone the addition of the series to its VOD systems on planes to avoid appearing biased in the Israeli-Palestinian war.
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A spokesperson for the company conveyed the following response to the British newspaper Jewish News, "We understand that the decision to review the content has caused upset and hurt to the Jewish community, and we’re sorry – that was never our intention. We’re proud to offer a wide range of entertainment options for our customers to enjoy and constantly review these, taking into consideration current events. The series will appear on our aircraft early next year."
Hapless creator, Gary Sinyor, labeled the decision as "shocking" when informed that his show would be sidelined by Spafax Media, the company responsible for curating BA's entertainment platform.
According to an email seen by Jewish News, Spafax stated, "BA asked us to review content on board and being booked in relation to Israel/Palestine and the conflict currently happening. Their preference is to remain as neutral in these situations as possible. As a result, we’ve been asked to remove Hapless from the December line-up but are very happy to book this once the conflict dies down."
Spafax, a subsidiary of WPP Group PLC, which has pledged against antisemitism, made this decision.
In response to BA's apology, Sinyor expressed his satisfaction, stating, “I’m obviously delighted that BA have apologized. This was not about the Jewish community though I’m grateful for the support. Hapless is intended for the mainstream audience and our national airline made a wrong decision in picking on a British comedy with Jews in it.”