To recline or to not recline?
Seat-reclining etiquette on planes has long been the topic 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 girl sitting behind me asked me to place my seat up since it was blocking her husband’s view of the TV. I politely declined, and she or he began 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 lady raise her seat — however the situation got worse when the lady wouldn’t budge.
“When [the female passenger] realized my Cantonese wasn’t so great, she began throwing around some nasty comments, calling me a ‘Mainland girl’ and other derogatory stuff,” the lady 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 began recording, the husband behind me even shoved his hand on my armrest and began shaking it like crazy. I felt my personal space had been completely violated,” the lady said.
Other passengers began to intervene as well, speaking up for the reclining passenger.
“You’re sufficiently old — why are you bullying a young girl?” a female voice will 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 opposite passengers began to speak up, the flight attendant allowed the passenger to change seats.
“I felt it was absurd — what if nobody had backed me up? Would I even have just been left to cope with it by myself?” she said. “As a serious airline, isn’t Cathay purported to know how one can handle such disputes? Shouldn’t treating passengers in another way get some consequences?”
Cathay Pacific released an announcement Saturday to “sincerely apologize” for the “unpleasant experience” — and added that they’ve 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 an announcement. “We are going to deny future travel on any Cathay Group flights to the 2 customers involved on this incident.”
The lady posted a follow-up video in a while saying that she believed the incident was “an isolated case and a private issue” and that it didn’t “must be blown out of proportion.”
“Whether on the plane or online, many Hong Kongers got here to assist and support me. There are still loads of nice people on this world!” she added.
