Did China Southern Airlines’ verbal abuse incident in Singapore draw less ire on mainland than discrimination row at Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific? Observers weigh in
- Passenger says he was verbally abused by ground staff working for China Southern Airlines in Singapore when asking questions in Mandarin
- Latest incident attracted less attention than Cathay scandal because latter involves Hong Kong, which has deeper mainland ties than Singapore, observers say
A video showing the latest exchange appeared on mainland social media last week, just days after Cathay fired three cabin crew members who were caught mocking the English-language proficiency of a customer in a recording by another passenger.
In the China Southern Airlines incident, the passenger, who identified himself by the surname Yuan, told mainland news outlet The Paper that he was talking to check-in agents at the airport about a seat assignment charge after being told he had to pay a fee to sit near the exit on his Chongqing-bound flight on May 23.
Yuan said he had “never heard of” the charge and claimed he was ignored when he spoke in Mandarin to the member of the ground handling staff, who initially told him he could not understand the language when asked if he could speak it.
