British Airways stewardess Joanne Wickenden, 23, of Hampshire, who posted a racist Snapchat rant aimed at Nigerian passengers, insists she resigned her post before BA could sack her
The British Airways stewardess who posted a racist Snapchat rant attacking Nigerian passengers insists she chose to resign – before she was sacked.
Joanne Wickenden, 23, quit the airline yesterday after a two-hour meeting with bosses over the shocking clip.
Despite her offensive post, Miss Wickenden maintains she resigned her post before the airline could terminate her contract.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, the 5ft 11in blonde air flight attendant from Fareham, Hampshire, said: ‘I want to set the record straight. I wasn’t sacked. I resigned.
‘I’d had enough and I didn’t want to fly anymore,’ she added.
Explaining the circumstances around the minute-long clip she recorded in her BA inform mocking Nigerian passengers for wanting ‘f***ing upgrades’, she said: ‘I was set up by a BA colleague. I was in my car before starting work and I was talking to this so-called friend on Snapchat.
‘They were sending me videos and asking me questions, encouraging me and egging me on to do impressions.
‘Unknown to me they were recording this conversation on their phone and send the footage around to others.
The stewardess sparked outrage after recording the racist clip in her BA uniform before flying from London Heathrow to Abuja on Friday night.
In a statement today the airline said ‘she no longer works for British Airways’, adding: ‘We expect the utmost professionalism from our staff when they are representing British Airways.’
Axed: Miss Wickenden sparked outrage after recording the racist clip in her BA uniform before flying from London Heathrow to Abuja on Friday night.
The 23-year-old, who wants to be an actress, told friends ‘I am not a racist’ and claimed the sickening video was just a joke.
A friend said that the other colleague wanted her to impersonate what goes on on the flight.
A source told MailOnline that the video – which was captioned ‘I can’t cope with this flight’ – was circulated among ‘horrified’ BA cabin crew who are ‘very concerned’.
Ms Wickenden said: ‘I have been framed by another BA employee. They were encouraging me, egging me on to say things. They were recording me and sent it around to our friends.’
The 5ft 11in air hostess, who made the racist film, says she has been single for two years as she boasted about her job on Plenty of Fish.
Another shocked staff member said BA should apologise to its Nigerian passengers.
In the expletive-filled footage, Ms Wickenden said: ‘All Nigerians are going to be asking for f****** upgrades’ – after claiming the men would need more leg room in an apparent joke about the size of their privates.
During the one-minute clip she also revealed how she was going to deal with passengers on the six-hour flight.
She said: ‘Alright, so all of yous are there getting ready for your Friday night, getting in the pre-drinks, you know, as you do.
‘And I’m here, getting ready to go to work, put on a yellow life jacket, point out the exits, hand out chicken or beef, what sort of Friday night is this for me?
‘The upside is I’m going to Nigeria and there’s gonna be bare B**, I’m joking, I’m joking.
All the Nigerians are gonna be there like ‘gimme Coca Cola, gimme me beef, why you have no beef left? I want beef.’
Sacked: A source told MailOnline that the video – which was captioned ‘I can’t cope with this flight’ – was circulated among ‘horrified’ BA cabin crew who are ‘very concerned’.
Selfies: Joanne Wickenden posted a series of sultry selfies to the dating website Plenty of Fish and said she ‘misses male company’
After shocked crew reported the video to British Airways the airline has launched investigation
‘And I’m just gonna be there like, ‘Sorry sir, we ran out of beef’.
‘All the Nigerians are gonna be there asking for f****** upgrades because they haven’t got enough leg room because their B**s are in their way. Big d**** like this swinging from side to side.’
An airline source told MailOnline: ‘My friend was horrified. BA has a culture of dealing with things like this internally, she passed it to me because she was concerned that nothing was done.’