Cathay Pacific Apologizes for Crew’s Insensitive Behavior Towards Non-English Speaker

Cathay Pacific has issued an apology after a recording of flight attendants poking fun making fun of a non-English speaking passenger was shared on social media.

The incident occurred on a flight from Chengdu Tianfu International Airport (CTU) to Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) on May 21, 2023 on flight CX 987.

A passenger asked flight attendants for a blanket but due to limited English confused the word “blanket” with “carpet”.

A fellow passenger who claims to have witnessed the scene recorded the conversation via audio and uploaded it on Red, one of China’s biggest social media apps.

The recording has now been uploaded to Tiktok. A voice can be heard enunciating the word, “carpet”, then a voice saying “the carpet is on the floor”. A subsequent voice was heard saying, “If you cannot say blanket, you cannot have it.” Group laughter followed.

Cathay Pacific issued a statement regarding the incident, which was published by Chinese media outlet Global Times. “We solemnly apologize again for the passenger’s experience on the flight CX987 on Sunday, which has aroused widespread public attention. We have conducted an internal investigation and will release the result within three days,” the carrier said.

Global Times also said that the audio recording had received more than 70 million views and comments on China’s Twitter-like social media platform Sina Weibo, where more netizens shared similar experiences of being discriminated against by Cathay Pacific cabin crew.