Cathay Pacific Airways has blacklisted two Cantonese-speaking passengers after a Chinese mainland traveler complained they harassed and verbally abused her during a recent flight due to a seat issue.
According to a video uploaded by the mainland traveler surnamed Jin on social media, while flying aboard a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to London on Sept 17, she tried to recline her seat, which the Cantonese-speaking couple behind her claimed obstructed their view of the seatback TV.
After Jin refused to change her seat position, the female passenger from the couple began to stretch her legs onto Jin’s armrest and kicked her arm, while the male passenger started shaking Jin’s seat and using discriminatory language targeting her mainland background.
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They called Jin “mainland girl” and the female passenger even raised her middle finger when she realized Jin was recording the encounter.
Jin said that she repeatedly asked the flight attendants for mediation, but they were unable to effectively defuse the dispute. Several other passengers who witnessed the incident also criticized the two passengers and spoke up for Jin.
Since the economy class was fully booked, the crew eventually moved Jin to the premium economy class to separate her from the harassing passengers.
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In a Saturday statement, Cathay said the cabin service manager admonished the two passengers for their behavior and gave them verbal warnings twice after moving Jin to a different seat.
The two passengers were banned from taking any future Cathay flights due to their inappropriate behavior.
Cathy said that it always prioritizes customer’s safety and travel experience and will not tolerate any disruptive behavior on board. The airline also apologized to Jin.
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Cathay reiterated that it has always maintained a zero-tolerance attitude toward any customer’s failure to comply with aviation safety regulations and for disrespecting the rights and interests of other customers.
In a media interview, Jin said she believes it was just an isolated incident and hoped that it will not impact the relationship between the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
She added that she will continue to visit Hong Kong in the future, noting that the majority of people in the city are very kind.
