PUBLISHED ONJanuary 14, 2026 2:13 PMBYSean LerA 23-year-old woman from Palembang was nabbed by Indonesian authorities on Jan 6 for masquerading as a Batik Air cabin crew. The incident sparked discussions on aviation security and the woman, Khairun Nisya, later issued a video apology.
Videos have gone viral of a woman dressed in a Batik Air flight attendant uniform boarding a flight travelling from Palembang to Jakarta, with allegations that she was not a real staff member. Other clips show airport staff escorting her off the flight and of the woman later detained in an office room. Batik Air has yet to comment on the incident, but the videos have raised concerns about flight safety. #indonesia #news #batikair #airline #flightattendant
Although the Indonesia National Police have shared their investigation findings, indicating that the woman wore the uniform out of embarrassment in front of her family after failing to secure a flight attendant job, some social media posts have since claimed that she was a scam victim.
Such posts have gone on to claim that Khairun Nisya had been hired by national carrier Garuda Indonesia, with a photo showing her shaking hands with an airline executive under a sign which reads "Manager, Garuda Indonesia Company".
Part of the accompanying captions reads: "Khairun Nisa is now officially a flight attendant. Khairun Nisa, 23, or familiarly known as Nisya, is a woman who went viral in January 2026."
While the image appears to be convincing at first glance, a closer examination of the image will reveal several inconsistencies, such as the overhead beam bearing the sign and the overlap between "Nisya", the "airline executive" and the four "airline staff" clapping behind them.
In addition, Nisya's facial features also appear to be different, even if some may argue that makeup could be a reason.
Checks by AsiaOne on Google Gemini's artificial intelligence (AI) image checker confirmed that the image was either edited or generated using Google's AI technology.
In response to AsiaOne's queries, Dicky Irchamsyah, who heads Garuda Indonesia's corporate communications department confirmed that the image was fake.
"We hereby clarify that the information is not true and misleading.
"The content was created using AI technology and disseminated by irresponsible parties. At present, Garuda Indonesia is not conducting any cabin crew recruitment. All official recruitment information is communicated solely through the website career.garuda-indonesia.com," Irchamsyah said.
Amid findings that some news outlets have been misled by such information, Irchamsyah also urged the public not to rely on unverified information and to always verify the credibility of information sources before sharing any content.
As of 9pm on Wednesday, checks by AsiaOne show that at least two news outlets in Southeast Asia have published stories carrying the falsehoods.
One outlet even changed its headline, after being misled by claims that Nisya was scammed.
While the claims that Nisya has been hired may be fake, an aviation training institute has reached out to offer her a flight attendant training scholarship.
Aeronef Academy, also based in Indonesia, took to Threads on Jan 12 to offer Nisya the opportunity.
"Her (Nisya's) struggle and passion to make her parents happy is very touching. We at Aeronef Indonesia believe that good intentions deserve the right opportunity.
"For that, we call on Nisya to attend our flight attendant training at Aeronef (100 per cent free). We want to help Nisya realise her dream of wearing a real cabin crew uniform — with real knowledge and certification," the post read.
While there may not be any malicious intention in this episode, scammers have been known to deploy deception to mislead their victims.
Remember, if it is too good to be true, it may not be.
Those residing in Singapore are also advised to safeguard against scams by using the ACT (Add, Check, Tell) framework, which involves adding the ScamShield app and setting security features.
If in doubt, call the ScamShield helpline at 1799.
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