Aljoscha Wendholt[2][3] (born 17 June 1986[citation needed]), professionally known as Josh Cahill,[2] is a German aviation vlogger, airline critic and blogger who presents airline reviews primarily through his YouTube channel.[4]

Josh Cahill
Cahill in 2020
Personal information
Born
Aljoscha Wendholt

(1986-06-17) 17 June 1986 (age 38)
Occupation(s)Aviation vlogger, airline critic
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2015–present
GenreReviews
Subscribers696,000[1]
Total views130.3 million[1]
100,000 subscribersMay 2019

Last updated: 30 May 2024

Early life

Aljoscha Wendholt was born in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. He moved to Saxony when he was six years old,[3] and grew up in the village of Mildenau in Saxony.[5] He started travelling in 2005 with his first trip to Lithuania.[5]

Career

 
Josh Cahill poses alongside Kam Air's first all-female crew in Herat.

In 2009, after abandoning an attempt to walk 12,000 km from Germany to Shanghai, China,[3][6][better source needed] he hitchhiked from Germany to Iran.[7] He visited Afghanistan as a tourist in 2015, as well as North Korea in 2017.[8]

In July 2015, Cahill posted his first flight review on his YouTube channel and has since received over 121 million views. His most-watched review has over 22 million views.[9][5]

On 22 December 2020, Cahill and other bloggers were on board during the delivery of Uganda Airlines' first Airbus A330-800 from Toulouse to Entebbe; the delivery was led by General Katumba Wamala, the then Ugandan Minister of Works and Transport, and received by Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni.[10][11]

On 24 February 2021, Cahill organized Afghanistan's first ever all-female flight from Kabul to Herat. The flight was operated by Kam Air and first featured on his channel.[12][13][14][15][16]

Incidents

In 2018, Cahill, on a Malaysia Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur to London, shared his criticisms on Instagram during the flight, using the in-flight Wi-Fi. According to Cahill, the crew confronted him for the Instagram post and refused to provide him any more service unless he stopped filming.[17]

On 7 January 2020, Cahill gave a negative review to Singapore Airlines. Someone claiming to be a Singapore Airlines crew member sent him a death threat. Cahill contacted local law enforcement regarding the death threat, who said they would investigate.[18]

In 2020, Cahill flew on board a Tunisair Airbus A330, and shared his criticisms of its lounge and onboard faculties.[19] In 2021, Cahill reviewed Tunisair again, giving another negative review. Upon arrival at Tunis International Airport, he was approached by five police officers over his previous video. They asked him to hand over his camera, which he refused.[20][21]

In December 2023, Cahill claimed that Qatar Airways tried to bribe him with free flights in exchange for taking down a negative review, and then banned him from the airline after he refused.[22]

In 2024, an Aero Dili staff member had made Cahill's passport public, explaining that he had published Cahill's passport to prove that the problems at check-in occurred because the name in Cahill's passport did not match the name on Cahill's boarding pass.[23]

References

  1. ^ a b "About @JoshCahill". YouTube.
  2. ^ a b Von Hannah Metzger (20 September 2010). "Per Anhalter geht's um die halbe Welt". Freie Presse (in German). Archived from the original on 20 December 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "15 Millionen Schritte bis nach Shanghai - WELT". Die Welt. 17 November 2011. Archived from the original on 21 January 2024.
  4. ^ Cheema, Sukhbir (17 January 2020). "Travel vlogger gets death threat after giving Singapore Airlines an honest review". Mashable. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  5. ^ a b c "Reiseblogger muss auf dem Boden bleiben | Freie Presse - Annaberg". Freie Presse (Saxony) (in German). Archived from the original on 16 October 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  6. ^ "Shanghaiwalk auf unbestimmte Zeit verschoben!" (in German). Archived from the original on 2 April 2011.
  7. ^ "How getting lost in Iran changed seasoned traveller Josh Cahill's life forever". News.com.au. 13 April 2014. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  8. ^ "What it's like in Afghanistan, the place Australians are warned not to visit". News.com.au. 18 March 2015. Archived from the original on 9 December 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  9. ^ "Man leaves bad review of airline during flight and it only made things worse". indy100. 22 November 2018. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020. Cahill flies around 150 times each year obviously knows a thing or two about what makes a good flight and although the staff acted unprofessionally he'll perhaps think twice the next time he is compelled to post a bad review during a flight.
  10. ^ "Uganda Airlines erhält modernen Airbus A330-800 für Langstreckenflüge | reisetopia". reisetopia.de (in German). 27 December 2020. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  11. ^ "Uganda Airlines gets new Airbus". The East African. 22 December 2020. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  12. ^ Mertes, Dustin (13 July 2024). "Luxair silent in spat with YouTube content creator". Luxembourg Times. Retrieved 24 July 2024. Josh Cahill organised the first "all-female flight" in Afghanistan in 2021, for which he received an Aviation Achievement Award.
  13. ^ "لومړي ځل افغان مېرمنو د الوتنې ټولې چارې ترسره کړې". BBC News (in Pashto). 27 February 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  14. ^ "All-female flight crew in Afghanistan makes history". The News International. Islamabad, Pakistan. 28 February 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  15. ^ Ebrahimkhel, Shakila. "نخستین پرواز ملکی زنان در افغانستان". Deutsche Welle (in Dari). Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  16. ^ Berberi, Leonard. "Josh Cahill, il blogger che recensisce (e fa arrabbiare) le compagnie aeree: «Controllo anche i bagni»". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  17. ^ Powell, Sebastian (25 November 2018). "Malaysia Airlines Are Digging Themselves A Hole After Feud With Airline Blogger Who Accused Them Of Inflight Bullying". LoyaltyLobby. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  18. ^ Ong, Justin (16 January 2020). "Airline vlogger faces backlash, including a death threat, for his negative review of Singapore Airlines". Today (Singapore newspaper). Archived from the original on 13 October 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  19. ^ Hana, Rim (25 August 2020). "Tunisia-Travel vlogger slams Tunisair claims following a video review on the Flag carrier". Tunisia News (in French). Archived from the original on 19 August 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  20. ^ "Vol Tunisair : le vidéaste allemand Josh Cahill remet ça…". lecourrierdelatlas (in French). 11 August 2021. Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  21. ^ "اليوتيوبر الألماني Josh Cahill في رحلة ثانية على التونسيار : كارثية وإحراج وطني (فيديو)". www.nessma.tv (in Arabic). 10 August 2021. Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  22. ^ https://www.businessinsider.com/youtuber-says-qatar-airways-banned-him-after-negative-review-2023-12
  23. ^ Viana, Rilijanto (23 February 2023). "Funcionário da Aero Díli publica fotografia de passaporte de passageiro nas redes sociais" (in Portuguese). Diligente. Retrieved 23 February 2024.