Cathay Pacific fires cabin crew over discrimination claim
Cathay Pacific Airways has fired three flight attendants after a complaint that they had discriminated against non-English speaking passengers.
They were sacked after an audio clip of the cabin crew apparently mocking passengers went viral. The Hong Kong carrier launched an internal investigation and apologised for causing “widespread concern”.
Chinese state media claimed the airline was “looking down on mainland Chinese people”. A passenger traveling from Chengdu to Hong Kong said the cabin crew mocked passengers who mistakenly asked for a “carpet” instead of a “blanket”. In the audio clip, a flight attendant can be heard laughing as she tells her colleagues: “If you cannot say blanket in English, you cannot have it. Carpet is on the floor.”
The incident has drawn much criticism on social media in China, with some users calling for a boycott of Cathay Pacific.
Hong Kong chief executive John Lee also said the incident had “hurt the feelings of compatriots in Hong Kong and the mainland”.
The airline’s CEO Ronald Lam apologised for the incident and said he will personally lead a task force to conduct a review into the company’s code of conduct.
(BBC)
