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Cathay Pacific Airways has dismissed three cabin crew members after a passenger accused them of discriminating against non-English speakers, in a case that drew criticism from Chinese state media.
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Airline CEO Ronald Lam Siu-por expressed his apologies Tuesday to the passenger and the community over the incident, which occurred on a flight from Chengdu in southwest China to Hong Kong on Sunday.
He reiterated his company’s “zero tolerance” of any serious breach of its policies and code of conduct.
“There is no compromise for such violations,” he said in a statement.
He added that he would lead a cross-departmental working group to conduct a comprehensive review of service processes, staff training and related systems to enhance its service quality.
"Most importantly, we must ensure that all Cathay Pacific staff respect passengers from different backgrounds and cultures and provide professional and consistent service in all areas served," Lam said.
Cathay's Flight Attendants Union did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The sacking came after the passenger complained in an online post that some crew members were disrespectful to passengers who did not speak English or Cantonese, the language widely spoken in Hong Kong. The person, who sat near the crew’s resting area, overheard them complaining about customers.
“During the whole flight, not a moment went by when I was not distressed or angry,” the passenger wrote.
In particular, the crew members made fun of other passengers who mixed up the terms “blanket” and “carpet” in English and appeared to be impatient even when someone tried to seek help in English, the post alleged.
“If you cannot say blanket in English, you cannot have it,” a person said in an audio clip posted on social media. The comment was followed by laughter. “Carpet is on the floor,” the recording continued.
Cathay issued an apology on Monday on the Chinese social media platform Weibo for “the unpleasant experience” suffered by passengers on the flight, but failed to pacify the anger triggered by the passenger’s post.
On Tuesday, a Weibo account belonging to the overseas edition of the official Chinese People’s Daily newspaper sternly criticized Cathay over the incident.
“It seems that its company culture still maintains a sense of superiority that worships foreigners and respects Hong Kongers but looks down on mainlanders,” it wrote.
It said the airline should rectify itself and establish rules to halt the unhealthy trend.
Cathay is working to rebuild its business after years of strict pandemic travel restrictions forced the airline into steep losses.
In March, it reported a loss of HK$6.55 billion in 2022 — an 18.5% increase from 2021 amid strict entry restrictions for the city during the first half of last year.
(Staff reporter and AP)
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