In November of last year, TikTok user Miguel Vasconcelos (@miguellamv) went viral after doing something impressive.
For context, Vasconcelos worked as a flight attendant for European budget airline RyanAir. On one flight, he decided to bring a boxed cake mix onto the plane and bake it for himself and his fellow crew, documenting the experience on TikTok. The video quickly accumulated over 3 million views.
In the comments section, users, while amazed by his efforts, wondered how his employer allowed him to perform such an action.
“This is so fun , my airline would fire me though , so would my civil aviation authority probably take my license away,” explained a commenter.
“How are you all able to make tiktoks mid flight and I was fired for sitting down to read after my duties? Lol,” offered another.
When someone said they got a disciplinary meeting for such behavior, Vasconcelos jokingly responded, “Why did you get a disciplinary meeting? What’s the reason? Because there’s nothing saying you can’t bake a cake.”
Vasconcelos wouldn’t have to wait long to discover that baking a cake could get you a disciplinary meeting. In fact, it may have led to him being fired.
@miguellamv Baking a cake on the airplane 🧑🍳😂 What should I do next?? 😆 #ryanair #ryanaircrew #cabincrew #flightattendant #baking #cake #flymiguel ♬ One Side (Remix) – Iyanya & Mayorkun & Tekno
In a video with over 2.5 million views, Vasconcelos reveals that RyanAir had let him go after 13 months of working there, with many commenters speculating that videos like the cake baking clip led to his termination.
Although he says in the video that he initially found his firing “totally unfair,” he is now content with where he is.
“Now, I am happy,” he explains. “I am with my head up looking for the positive side. I love the universe and the universe loves me back, so I know this is just another step on my life journey, so it’s okay.”
“Thank you so much, RyanAir, for the life that you gave me for more than a year, for all the experience,” he adds at the end of the video.
@miguellamv I was fired from Ryanair… here’s my message about it 🫠 We all have bad moments, and we ALL can rise and become even better afterwards 📈 I have no hate torwards Ryanair as I loved my life for the past 13 months, I will focus on the positive 😇 Thank you for watching my videos, more are coming when I have the patience to edit them 🫶 (until I run out of content 😝) #ryanair #ryanaircrew #cabincrew #flightattendant #cabincrewlife #uniform #flymiguel ♬ Solas X Interstellar – Gabriel Albuquerqüe
In the comments section, some users speculated as to why he was fired.
“It’s sad but people should understand what professionalism is.your work is not your home,” stated a commenter. “I knew this was to happen the moment I saw the cake video.”
“Take note: don’t bake a cake during a flight,” added another.
However, others simply offered words of encouragement.
“A friend was pilot for Ryanair after getting fired he ended up being pilot for Emirates!!!” exclaimed a commenter.
“I’m sorry Ryanair lost you. You’re such an inspiring person with so much positivity, thank you!” shared a second.
The Daily Dot reached out to RyanAir via media contact form and Vasconcelos via email.