Cathay’s HK Express says staff member fired over handling of Portuguese egg tarts
- According to HK Express, ground crew member hired by separate company violated rules for handling food left by passengers
Cathay Pacific Airways’ budget airline HK Express confirmed on Saturday a ground crew member had been fired over the handling of a passenger’s Portuguese egg tarts.
The confirmation came after a social media post went viral on Wednesday, questioning whether it was proper for a ground crew member to eat the food.
According to the airline, the ground crew member, hired by an outside company, violated the company’s proper procedures for handling food left behind by passengers.
“The staff member involved has been terminated by the relevant ground handling service provider, and all staff have been instructed to strictly adhere to the proper standard handling procedures,” the company said.
“We allow passengers to bring food and beverages on board; however, consuming outside food and beverages in the cabin is not allowed. Ground staff will remind passengers of these regulations before boarding, but they will not confiscate passengers’ food.”
The viral posting on Instagram included a picture of several people digging into three boxes of Portuguese egg tarts from fast food chain KFC, with a caption saying they were from a passenger who tried to bring the tarts on board.
The airline stated that it always put customers first, noting it did not tolerate any behaviour that did not comply with its service standards.
“In response to this incident, HK Express has reviewed the current handling procedures with the service provider and has required the company to enhance internal training to ensure that all staff providing services to HK Express passengers meet professional standards,” it said.
Checks by the Post found that Greater Bay Airlines also does not allow passengers to eat outside food and drinks on board, while Hong Kong Airlines does not have specific guidelines on the matter.
The city’s flag carrier Cathay Pacific allows passengers to bring food and drinks onto its aircraft but said crew members would not help passengers refrigerate or heat up their meals.
Budget airlines from other countries have varying regulations on whether passengers can eat outside food on their aircraft.
Scoot, the budget arm of Singapore Airlines, and Malaysian budget airline Air Asia prohibit outside food on board.
Japanese budget carrier Peach Aviation and Korean low-cost airlines T’way Air and Jeju Air did not have clear guidelines on outside food on their websites.
Jetstar, the budget arm of Australian airline Qantas, allows passengers to bring outside food on board.
“For safety reasons, we do not allow passengers to board with hot drinks … or bring their own alcohol for consumption during the flight,” the airline states on its website.
