To recline or not to recline?
Seat-reclining etiquette on planes 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 insults.
A female passenger on a flight from Hong Kong to London on Sept. 17 shared her experience on Xiaohongshu, China’s version of Instagram.
“The lady sitting behind me asked me to put my seat up because it was blocking her husband’s view of the TV. I politely declined, and she started stretching her feet onto my armrest, kicking my arm and cursing at me like crazy,” the passenger from mainland China explained, per CNN.
A flight attendant attempted to intervene by suggesting that the woman raise her seat — but the situation got worse when the woman wouldn’t budge.
“When [the female passenger] realized my Cantonese wasn’t so great, she started throwing around some nasty comments, calling me a ‘Mainland girl’ and other derogatory stuff,” the woman said. While people from Hong Kong mainly speak Cantonese, those from mainland China mainly speak Mandarin.
The husband of the cursing passenger got involved as well.
“Once I started recording, the husband behind me even shoved his hand on my armrest and started shaking it like crazy. I felt my personal space had been completely violated,” the woman said.
Other passengers started to intervene as well, speaking up for the reclining passenger.
“You’re old enough — why are you bullying a young girl?” a female voice can be heard in Mandarin. Others chimed in in Cantonese, saying: “You’re embarrassing us Hongkongers!” and “Stop saying you’re from Hong Kong!”
After the other passengers started to speak up, the flight attendant allowed the passenger to switch seats.
“I felt it was absurd — what if no one had backed me up? Would I have just been left to deal with it on my own?” she said. “As a major airline, isn’t Cathay supposed to know how to handle such disputes? Shouldn’t treating passengers differently get some consequences?”
Cathay Pacific released a statement 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 regulations or disrespects the rights of other customers,” the airline said in a statement. “We will deny future travel on any Cathay Group flights to the two customers involved in this incident.”
The woman posted a follow-up video later on saying that she believed the incident was “an isolated case and a personal issue” and that it didn’t “need to be blown out of proportion.”
“Whether on the plane or online, many Hong Kongers came to help and support me. There are still plenty of nice people in this world!” she added.
