Viral Cathay Pacific Onboard Skirmish Appears More About Mainland China Than Seat Recline

An unfortunate harassment incident over seat recline on a Cathay Pacific flight appears just as much as an issue of bias against Mainland Chinese passengers than a debate over seat recline.

Cathay Pacific Seat Recline Incident: Are Mainland Chinese Passengers Second Class?

Let’s first examine what happened:

The incident occurred on:

Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong (HKG) to London (LHR)

A woman reclined her seat
The couple behind her objected, saying it obstructed their view of the seatback monitor
She refused to return her seat to the upright position
As a result, the couple retaliated by:

placing their legs on her armrest
slapping her wrist
flicking her off
shaking her seat
scolding her (in Cantonese)

When the couple realized the woman did not speak Cantonese, they began derisively calling her “mainland girl”
The woman alerted a flight attendant
But the flight attendant suggested she put her seat up

“I was shocked because it was not meal time, yet the flight attendant wanted me to compromise, I rejected the suggestion.”

The couple then began to kick her seat
She requested to be moved, but a flight attendant rejected the request

“Since we are fully booked today, we couldn’t find another seat for you.”

She was also mocked by the woman behind her

“The mainland will prevail. Mainlanders are the most powerful. Mainland girls can sell smiles.”

But other passengers, including from Hong Kong, stood up for the Mainland passenger

“When the first person spoke up, tears welled up in my eyes. I felt a deep sense of injustice, but also a relief that someone understood and spoke up for me, including a lot of Hong Kongers who helped me. I see this as an isolated incident and do not want it to affect the unity between the two places.”

The Mainland passenger shared her experience (including video) on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu

Bad Behavior On Display…By Couple And By Flight Attendant

I am in the camp that believes, except during meal times, that you have an absolute right to recline your seat. This passenger had a right to recline her seat and the passengers behind her were totally out of line on so many levels.

Let me say this as well. I’ve seen the anti-Mainland bias shown by flight attendants on Cathay Pacific. Once I was on a flight from Beijing to Hong Kong and praised the meal, to which the flight attendant responded, “I’m surprised anything good came out of the Mainland.”

And that sticks with me not so much so because I was offended by it (though Mainland China has excellent food…Chinese food I can actually eat unlike the US “Chinese” food), but because it does represent a viewpoint, perhaps increasing less prevalent, that Hong Kong was a jewel in East Asia and a stark juxtaposition to the oppressive regime of the People’s Republic.

We’ve seen civil liberties vanish in Hong Kong, accelerated by the pandemic, and a real sense that Hong Kong will never be the same again, and not in a good way either.

That cultural context aside, all passengers must be treated with dignity. Scolding a Mainland passenger seems to me more an example of cultural bias than a(n incorrect) belief that the woman could not recline her seat. The couple…which Cathay Pacific has now banned after the video above went viral…seem to have acted in a disgusting manner.

CONCLUSION

When you fly, you have a right to recline your seat except during meal times. When you fly, you have a right to be treated with dignity and not discriminated against based on national origin, either by your seatmates or flight attendants. This Mainland passenger appeared wronged…and I am glad that she has told her story and Cathay Pacific has finally responded by banning the troublesome couple. Don’t want a reclined seat? Buy a bulkhead seat.