There are many ways to sell insurance.

Creating a furore is one of them, it seems.

On July 18, AXA PPP Healthcare (a UK-based insurance provider under AXA) was called out by Facebook page A Fly Guy's Cabin Crew Lounge for a graphic on preventing "plane pain".

The online community, which has more than 800,000 followers, is a space for cabin crew all over the world to commiserate and share their photos.

As a solution, AXA advised that passengers ask cabin crew to lift heavy baggage for them.

And here is A Fly Guy's caption:

"OH HELL NO!!!!

The international insurance firm AXA released their list of travel tips and their number one suggestion for avoiding back pain when traveling is....

ASK CABIN CREW TO LIFT HEAVY BAGGAGE!

As the largest crew community on social media, why don't we tell them what we, the cabin crew, think of their advice and also make sure we avoid AXA travel insurance and other services!

Time to take our business elsewhere. Guess who travels a lot AXA? Cabin crew, and we will make sure to avoid giving our travel insurance business to a company that takes no regard for our health and safety!

Spread the word and hashtag your posts!

#axa #axainsurance #liftyourownbag #youbringityouslingit#unitedbywings #unitedagainstaxa #crewlife"

The post has since gotten over 1,200 shares and 900 comments.

Cabin crew indignant

One of the main gripes was the way cabin crew were regarded by AXA — one user called it "disrespectful", as the advice implied that it was okay for the crew to hurt their back.

One crew member also added that they are "safety professionals", and not just "helpers".

Others pointed out that it would be a health hazard for the crew to constantly lift heavy baggages:

Passengers were not onboard with AXA's advice either, as most commenters believe that stowing away the luggage was their own responsibility.

Not cabin's crew job to stow luggage away

Cabin crew are not obligated to help passengers with their baggages.

Not only does it pose a health hazard (e.g. injuries from heavy baggage, repetitive lifting of heavy weights), but it also compromises efficiency.

This is especially so when taking into account the number of flight attendants compared with the number of passengers on a flight.

If flight crew had to help every passenger stow every piece of luggage on board a plane, the time and effort taken will be immense.

And if a passenger found the baggage too heavy to lift, chances are, the cabin crew would too.

Furthermore, according to A Fly Guy, health insurance plans usually do not cover injuries caused by heavy lifting.

However, stewards/ stewardess do assist young children or passengers who have mobility issues.

AXA apologises

Following the backlash, AXA PPP Healthcare amended their copy and put out an apology, which has been pinned to the top of their Facebook feed.

The caption was changed to "Only pack what you can lift".

In case you can't see the post, here's the apology:

"We apologise to those of you who, rightly, challenged an article we issued yesterday about cabin crew and heavy baggage. We have amended this in light of your feedback. https://bit.ly/2Y0pVtD"

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Top image by AXA PPP Healthcare/Facebook