Woman, 23, pretends to be Batik Air crew, gets caught, apologises, says she didn't want to let family down

An Indonesian woman was caught pretending to be a Batik Air flight attendant.

On Jan. 6, the 23-year-old woman, Khairun Nisya, landed at Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Jakarta wearing Batik Air's kebaya uniform and carried her own flight attendant identification card.

Got caught

She was stopped by aviation security staff in Jakarta, who asked for her identity and questioned why she wore the Batik Air uniform.

She apparently replied that she was a Batik Air flight attendant and showed her identification card, but its authenticity was described as "questionable".

She was referred to the airport police, who detained her for further questioning.

Upon interrogation, she admitted to the police that she had applied to become an air stewardess, but failed the interviews.

Got scammed

According to CNA, she applied to become an air stewardess in early 2025.

She met a person in Jakarta who promised her that she could be a stewardess if she paid 30 million rupiah (S$2,288).

After paying the amount, the person became uncontactable.

As she did not want to disappoint her parents, she lied to them that she got to become an air stewardess.

As she was embarrassed to face her family in Palembang, she flew to Jakarta wearing the uniform to make it look like she was working.

Took fast track clearance

She had bought the uniform online and wore it to the airport in Palembang, and even took the fast track lane before boarding.

She said she had intended to change out of the uniform upon reaching the airport, but did not have time to do so.

So, she took the flight looking like an air stewardess.

Also questioned by cabin crew

According to Tribun, she was also questioned by the real cabin crew on board the flight, but allegedly could not respond with standard cabin crew answers.

The police said that after further investigations, they found Nisya did not harbour any intentions to commit criminal activities.

She was released on condition that she signed a written agreement.

Batik Air also did not press charges and chose to close the case amicably.

Apologised

In a follow-up TikTok video, she said: "I'd like to clarify that I am not a Batik Air stewardess. With this, I'd like to apologise to Batik Air and Lion Group. I made this video of my own accord. Thank you."

Top image from Threads and TikTok.