A young woman from China recently took to social media to share her distressing experience aboard a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to London on 18 Sept.
In her post, she recounted being harassed by a middle-aged couple from Hong Kong after reclining her seat, which upset them as they were watching TV on the screen attached to her seat.
When she refused to adjust her seat, the woman behind her began pushing her legs against the back of her chair to shake it.
Source: Christina Mok on Facebook
Matters escalated when the couple began calling her “mainland girl”, prompting the woman to seek help from the flight attendants.
Feeling discriminated against, the young woman requested help from a flight attendant, but was left confused when the staff only told her to adjust her seat, as it was not mealtime or takeoff.
Despite asking the woman to stop, the harassment continued, which prompted her to seek help from the attendant again.
The flight attendant apologised, explaining that the flight was full and they could not move her.
The situation worsened when the middle-aged woman taunted her, saying: “Mainland will win, the mainlanders are the best” and “Mainland girls can just laugh.”
Upon realising the young woman was recording the encounter, the couple’s behaviour escalated further, with the middle-aged woman shaking the seat repeatedly and raising her middle finger at the camera.
Source: Christina Mok on Facebook
“I instantly felt that the safe distance was seriously violated,” the young passenger shared.
Other passengers on the flight took the young woman’s side, criticising the couple for their behaviour.
Source: Christina Mok on Facebook
Several passengers shouted things like “You are so rude!” and “You’re bullying a little girl, is that right?”
They also told them not to call themselves “Hong Kong people”.
The flight attendant, struggling to manage the situation, could only tell them to calm down. She eventually moved the young woman to another seat after receiving complaints from multiple passengers.
In her post, the young woman expressed frustration with Cathay Pacific’s lack of intervention, questioning why they had not handled the situation more effectively despite her multiple requests for help.
“What if no one speaks for me? Should I continue to be patient?” she asked.
“Don’t big airlines know how to deal with this kind of dispute? Shouldn’t such behaviour of discriminating against mainland China be punished?”
After the incident went viral, Cathay Pacific responded to HK01’s inquiry, apologising to the young woman for the unpleasant experience and launching an internal investigation.
The airline reaffirmed its zero-tolerance policy towards any behaviour that violates passenger safety or respect.
It further stated that the couple involved has been permanently banned from flying on any Cathay Pacific Group flights.
It added:
In accordance with the relevant “General Terms and Conditions for Passengers and Baggage Protection, the two customers who caused a disturbance in this incident will be refused to fly on any Cathay Pacific Group flights in the future.
The incident has sparked online debate between Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong netizens, with many from Mainland China condemning the couple’s actions as an example of a superiority complex.
However, others pointed out that fellow Hong Kong passengers had stood up for the young woman, emphasising that such behaviour is not reflective of all Hong Kong residents.
“The Hong Kong people I know are really not like this. They are all polite. The elders are also polite. [The couple] is really different,” one comment stated.
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Featured image adapted from Christina Mok on Facebook
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