Airline Apologizes After Staff Accused of Linguistic Racism
▲Click above to subscribe 点击上方蓝字关注我们
An online user recently took to social media to report an incident that took place on a Cathay Pacific flight number CX987, accusing flight attendants of discrimination against non-English and non-Cantonese speaking passengers. The post quickly went viral online, unleashing a wave of criticism from netizens.
The user wrote that he was boarding the flight from Chengdu to Hong Kong on May 21, when he heard flight attendants at the rear cabin complaining about passengers who could not speak English, adding that they used discriminatory tone and language when referring to passengers who could speak neither English nor Cantonese.
In one of the audio he recorded, the flight attendants could be heard saying "If you cannot speak blanket, you cannot have it," followed by a burst of laughter from several people.
The user explained that they were complaining about a passenger on the front seat who struggled to explain in English that they needed a blanket, only to end up getting mocked.
The same passenger also received an extremely impatient answer when they tried to ask the flight attendant in English how to fill out the entry form.
And then, just as the plane took off, an old man was taking a child to the toilet, but the flight attendant used Cantonese to ask them to return to their seats (the user admitted that this was the old man's fault as the warning light was still on.)
But the flight attendant then said, "They (passengers) can not understand people's speech."
On May 22 evening, Cathay Pacific Airlines issued a statement acknowledging that the company was aware of the passenger's unpleasant experience on the flight and deeply apologized for it.
The statement added that the company has always been committed to providing high-quality services to passengers and attaches great importance to the incident.
"We have contacted relevant passengers to further understand the situation and will conduct a serious investigation and handle it appropriately." Read the statement.
Update: On May 23, Cathay Pacific Airlines issued another statement apologizing for the second time. Part of the statement read:
We have contacted the passenger to learn more about the incident. As of now, we have already suspended the flight attendant(s) involved, and have opened an internal investigation. We will announce the results within three days.
*The opinions expressed in the article are solely those of the author.*
GBA Expats: Everything you need living in Shenzhen.
Contributions will be appreciated！
欢迎投稿！
Boss Fires 2 Just-Employed Workers Because Of Tattoos China to Outlaw Foreign-Related Performances? Chinese Tourist Killed Girlfriend Before Taking Own Life