A flight attendant who was sacked for allegedly taking a photo of herself pulling the finger at passengers which then went viral has been reinstated.

Russian news agency RIA Novosti reports Tatiana Kozlenko has been given her job back at Aeroflot but will spend six months on probation.

Kozlenko was fired in relation to a photo on her social media page that appeared to show a flight attendant giving the finger to an oblivious cabin full of passengers.

Tatiana Kozlenko, and the image posted on her Vkontakte page

The photo had been on the woman’s Voktakte wall – a Russian social media website similar to Facebook – since 2011, Russia Today reports.

But Kozlenko lost her job at the Russian carrier just last month after a popular Russian blogger linked to the photo from his Twitter account.

The airline took to Twitter to announce Kozlenko was no longer an employee and claimed she had “pleaded guilty”.

“All our passengers are equally deserving of respect and attention,” one Aeroflot tweet said.

But Kozlenko defended herself on her Vkontakte page, saying the photo was not hers, the hand belonged to someone else.

“The photo was added to my page, I only tagged myself on it!”

Aeroflot said on Wednesday Kozlenko had proven her sincerity and therefore would be reinstated, according to RIA Novosti.

In announcing its decision to reinstate Kozlenko, Aeroflot said she was able to prove her sincerity and professional viability, according to RIA Novosti.

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