2023 Cathay Pacific discrimination scandal
 The Airbus A330-300 aircraft involved in the scandal | |
| Date | 21 May 2023 |
|---|---|
| Location |  People's Republic of China Hong Kong |
The Cathay Pacific discrimination scandal (also known ironically as the Carpet Airline Discrimination Scandal) refers to a series of alleged discrimination incidents by the flight attendants against multiple passengers aboard Cathay Pacific Flight 987, flying from Chengdu Tianfu International Airport in mainland China to Hong Kong International Airport in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on May 21, 2023.
Timeline
[edit]On 23 May 2023, an audio recording was posted to the internet in which Cathay Pacific flight attendants could allegedly be heard making fun of a passenger based on their lack of English proficiency. Later that day, after being criticized by Chinese media and tens of thousands of netizens, Cathay Pacific apologised on Chinese social media sites for their flight attendants’ discriminatory actions against non-English speakers, by saying that the airlines has "suspended the flight attendants concerned and launched an internal investigation", where any "inappropriate words and deeds" that violated its rules and professional ethics would be dealt with seriously once confirmed.[1] The company emphasized the importance of the incident and promised to conduct a serious investigation. They reiterated their commitment to providing high-quality service to their passengers.[2]
However, many mainland netizens considered it to be 'insincere' and 'painless' because the statement was not stamped. Some even changed Cathay Pacific's English name to 'Carpet Airlines' as a form of ridicule.[3][4]
As for public reaction, many mainland Chinese netizens were not convinced by Cathay's apology. Some questioned why the apology was posted from Beijing instead of Hong Kong. Others criticised Cathay for only posting the apology in simplified Chinese on Weibo, and demanded Cathay to publish a global apology in both Chinese and English on their official website, Facebook, and Instagram.[5]
On the 23rd, the poster of the original Xiaohongshu post stated that the director of customer service at Cathay Pacific's headquarters had contacted her to further understand the situation. She insisted that her intention was to ensure an apology from the flight attendants for their discriminatory remarks and for Cathay Pacific to apologize to any passengers who had an unpleasant experience. She stated she would not delete her posts until the flight attendants apologized. [6][7]
In the afternoon, under the pressure of public opinion, Cathay Pacific issued a statement on Weibo again, 'formally apologizing' for the incident. The statement stated that the crew members involved in the incident had been suspended, an internal investigation was underway, and the results would be made public within three days.[8][better source needed]
Due to the rising discontentment, Cathay Pacific apologised for the third time, saying that the airlines dismissed the three flight attendants who made inappropriate acts against non-English speaking passengers. CEO Ronald Lam apologized on behalf of the airlines and promised that he himself will lead a cross-departmental working group to conduct a comprehensive review and re-examination of the airline's service process, personnel training and related systems to avoid similar incidents from happening again.[9]
On the afternoon of the 23rd, a user posted personal attacks towards the poster of the original complaint post in Cantonese on Xiaohongshu, calling the incident as "a small matter that reveals the fragility of many." The user cussed the whistleblower for "shamelessly recording audio," and pointed out that "one of the recorded flight attendants was not from Hong Kong and that English was not her mother tongue", asking "why do you guys demand her to use Mandarin". In stark contrast to the Cathay Pacific's official apology statement, the post raised doubts among netizens about Cathay Pacific's sincerity in handling the incident.[10][11]
The whistleblower later posted a thread on Xiaohongshu in response to the insults, stating that she "never mentioned the nationality of the flight attendants or crew in the original thread". However, the cussing post stated the nationality and mother tongue of them. Therefore, the whistleblower suggested that the user who posted the insulting thread "is very likely to be" one of the involved flight attendants and criticized the user for still not realizing the discriminatory elements in the recording and the malicious intention expressed.[12]
Reactions
[edit]On 24 May 2023, when being asked of the incident, Hong Kong chief executive John Lee said the incident had "hurt the feelings of compatriots in Hong Kong and the mainland". And at this time, CEO Ronald Lam apologized again, but in Mandarin, by saying that he will personally lead a taskforce to conduct a review into the company's code of conduct.[13]
References
[edit]- ^ Master, Farah. "Cathay Pacific apologises after passenger alleges discrimination". Reuters. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
- ^ "網民舉報空服員歧視非英語乘客 國泰指嚴肅調查處理". 東網. 2023-05-23. Archived from the original on 2023-05-23. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ 李靖棠 (2023-05-23). "國泰航空歧視英文能力與陸客遭砲轟 涉案空服已被停職". TVBS. Archived from the original on 2023-05-24. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ 吳連哲 (2023-05-24). "遭爆歧視「破英語」乘客 國泰航空3度道歉、開除3空服員". 台視新聞網. Archived from the original on 2023-05-24. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
- ^ 許祺安 (2023-05-23). "國泰歧視風波後急發簡體字聲明 內地網民不買單：中英文全網道歉". 香港01. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ "國泰涉歧視風波│舉報者小紅書公開與國泰交涉經過 「要歧視者知道有後果的」". 星島日報. 2023-05-23. Archived from the original on 2023-05-23. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ 朱加樟 (2023-05-23). "國泰歧視風波：疑似舉報者述交涉經過：要求後艙三位空姐公開道歉". 香港01. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ "国泰航空声明". 微博. Archived from the original on 2023-05-23. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ "Cathay Pacific fires 3 cabin crew members accused of insulting non-English speaking passengers". South China Morning Post. Today online. 23 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
- ^ 小紅薯646BDBAD. "就CS987航班一事". 小紅書. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "國泰空中服務員工會：坊間流傳對員工的錯誤指控 希望獲公司支持". Now 新聞 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 2023-05-24. Archived from the original on 2023-05-24. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
- ^ "國泰歧視風波｜涉事空服員疑鬧舉報者錄音無恥 官媒籲港人勿歧視操國語內地客". 有線新聞 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 2023-05-24. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
- ^ Cai, Derek (25 May 2023). "Cathay Pacific fires cabin crew over discrimination claim". UK Government. BBC. Retrieved 25 May 2023.