The seat back was the bone of contention Argument on the plane escalates - couple banned by airline
An argument broke out on a Cathay Pacific plane on a flight from Hong Kong to London. A woman leaned back in her seat and a couple behind her swore at her. The latter have now been banned by the airline.
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- After a woman reclined her seat on a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to London, a bitter argument broke out.
- The couple behind her asked the passenger to put her seat back up, but she refused.
- In a video that the young woman shared on social media, she explains that the woman behind her then put her feet on her armrest and started kicking her. There was verbal abuse.
- The airline has now banned the couple.
It's one of those questions on an airplane: is it okay to put your seat back or is it selfish because you're taking up space from other passengers? A hotly debated topic that divides opinion.
One couple on a Cathay Pacific flight, however, were adamant that the woman in front of them had no right to recline her seat back. The dispute escalated and, according to a statement from the airline, the duo are now banned from future flights.
But from the beginning: the plane was en route from Hong Kong to London on September 17 when a young woman wanted to make herself comfortable and reclined her seat, but was suddenly accosted from behind.
A video that the young woman subsequently posted on Xiaohongshu - the Chinese version of Instagram - gives an insight into the incident, CNN reports.
"The woman behind me asked me to put the seat upright because it was blocking her husband's view of the screen. I politely refused, whereupon she started putting her feet on my armrest, kicking me and swearing at me angrily," she describes the experience in the video.
The flight attendant tried in vain to mediate. She suggested that the young woman put her seat back up. But she refused.
"You're old enough - why are you bullying a young girl?"
The whole thing came to a head: "When she realized that my Cantonese wasn't that good, she started making nasty remarks, calling me a 'mainland girl' and other derogatory things," said the young woman. Cantonese is the main language spoken in Hong Kong, whereas Mandarin is the main language spoken in mainland China.
At this point, other passengers spoke up and intervened. "You're old enough - why are you bullying a young girl?" one passenger is reported to have said, according to CNN. And other voices said in Cantonese: "You're embarrassing us Hongkongers!" or "Stop saying you're from Hong Kong!"
After other passengers came to her aid, the young woman was finally allowed to change seats and the bitter dispute came to an end. However, she found the whole thing "absurd", as she calls it: "What would have happened if no one had supported me? Would I have just been left to my own devices?"
Scolding couple was banned by Cathay Pacific
Following the incident, Cathay Pacific issued a statement on Saturday and took a stand.
"We have 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, according to CNN.
It added: "We will deny future travel on all Cathay Group flights to the two customers involved in this incident." The airline sincerely apologized for the "unpleasant experience".
