Airline bans couple for harassing passengers over ‘absurd’ seat dispute

To support or not to support?

Seating etiquette on airplanes has long been the subject of debate, but an argument over reclining seats between three passengers on Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific escalated into xenophobic slurs.

A female passenger on a flight from Hong Kong to London in September. 17 shared her experience on Xiaohongshu, the Chinese version of Instagram.

“The lady sitting behind me asked me to move my seat because she was preventing her husband from watching TV. I politely declined and she started putting her legs on my arm, kicking my arm and swearing at me like crazy,” the passenger from mainland China explained, via CNN.

A flight attendant tried to intervene by suggesting the woman move up her seat – but the situation worsened when the woman wouldn’t move.

“When [the female passenger] realized that my Cantonese was not that good, she started making some nasty comments, calling me a ‘Mainland girl’ and other derogatory things,” said the woman. While people from Hong Kong mostly speak Cantonese, those from China Mainlanders speak mainly Mandarin.

The cursed passenger’s husband is also involved.

“As soon as I started recording, the man behind me pushed his hand on my arm and started shaking it like crazy. “I felt that my personal space was completely violated,” said the woman.

Other passengers also began to intervene, speaking on behalf of the lying passenger.

“You’re old enough – why are you bullying a young girl?” a female voice can be heard in Mandarin. Others shouted in Cantonese, saying: “You are embarrassing us Hongkongers!” and “Don’t say you’re from Hong Kong!”

After the other passengers started talking, the flight attendant allowed the passenger to switch seats.

“I thought it was absurd – what if no one had supported me? Would they have let me deal with it myself?” she said. “As a major airline, isn’t Cathay supposed to know how to handle such disputes? Shouldn’t there be some consequences for treating travelers differently?”

Cathay Pacific issued a statement on Saturday to “sincerely apologize” for the “unpleasant experience” – and added that they have banned the couple from flying on the airline again.

“We maintain a zero-tolerance policy for any behavior that violates aviation safety rules or does not respect the rights of other customers,” the airline said in a statement. “We will deny future travel on any Cathay Group flight to the two customers involved in this incident.”

The woman posted a follow-up video later saying she believed the incident was “an isolated incident and a personal matter” and that it should not be “blown out of proportion”.

“Whether on the plane or online, many Hong Kongers came to help and support me. There are still a lot of good people in this world!” she added.