Thousands of Pilot’s Personal Data Leaked on 2 Biggest Airline American Airlines and Southwest Airlines

Liputan6.com, Jakarta – Two of the world’s largest airlines, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines, disclosed data breaches caused by the hack of Pilot Credentials, a third-party vendor that maintains pilot applications and recruitment portals for several airlines.

Both airlines were notified of the Pilot Credentials incident on May 3, 2023, which was limited to third party vendor systems only, with no compromise or impact on airline networks/systems.

An unauthorized person gained access to the Pilot Credentials system on April 30, 2023 and stole documents containing information provided by certain applicants in the pilot and cadet recruitment process.

According to a breach notice filed Friday (6/23/2023) with the Maine Attorney General’s Office, American Airlines said the data breach affected 5,745 pilots and applicants, while Southwest Airlines reported a total of 3,009.

“Our investigation determined that the data involved contained some personal information, such as name and Social Security number, driver’s license number, passport number, date of birth, Pilot Certificate number, and other government-issued identification numbers,” American Airlines said. Bleeping ComputerSaturday (24/6/2023).

While there is no evidence to suggest that pilots’ personal information was specifically targeted or exploited for fraud or identity theft purposes, the airline will from now on direct all pilot and cadet applicants to an internal, self-administered portal.

“We are no longer utilizing vendors, and going forward, pilot applicants will be directed to an internal portal managed by Southwest,” said Southwest Airlines.

American Airlines and Southwest Airlines have also notified relevant law enforcement authorities of this breach and are fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation into the matter.