Cathay Pacific suspends crew after discrimination complaint

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. suspended some cabin crew who worked on a recent flight as accusations of discrimination against non-English speaking passengers mounted on Chinese social media. 

A passenger on a Sunday flight from Chengdu to Hong Kong recorded audio of an attendant allegedly saying that if people couldn’t say “blanket” in English, they shouldn’t be able to have one. The comments are followed by laughter in the background. 

Cathay said it contacted passengers to understand more about the incident and has launched an investigation. 

Bloomberg News hasn’t been able to verify the audio file. A passenger who posted the clip on social media platform Xiaohongshu didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but in a subsequent post wrote that Cathay executives had called her to learn more about what happened. 

Cathay issued an initial apology Monday, saying it was “aware of the unpleasant experience” on Flight 987. 

A hashtag about Cathay’s apology was one of the top-trending topics on Weibo, with more than 140 million views. 

Results of the investigation will be announced in three days, Cathay said Tuesday. The airline didn’t provide any more details or say how many crew have been suspended. 

The wrath of China’s so-called netizens over perceived slights has caused plenty of corporate damage over the years, with calls for boycotts of companies from Mercedes-Benz Group AG to Hennes & Mauritz AB.   

Cathay’s share price was unscathed. The stock rose 2.3% Monday and added another 0.7% Tuesday.