- A Chinese airline’s staff has come under fire for telling a passenger he’d treat them “like a dog.”
- The passenger said he was in Singapore and checking into a China Southern Airlines flight.
- The carrier apologized for the incident, and said the staff member was employed by a local agency.
The clip, posted last week on Chinese social media by the passenger, shows the staff typing on a device at a check-in counter as he made the insult.
“If you want to be a dog, then I can treat you like a dog. It’s very simple,” he says in Mandarin to the passenger, who identified himself by his last name, Yuan, to Chinese media.
“Who’s the dog? Please clarify,” the passenger responds off-camera, also in Mandarin.
—JoyceChifo (@JoyceChi51) May 27, 2023
“People are trying to explain this, and you just interrupt,” the staff member continues.
“Clarify who the dog is,” the passenger interjects. “Say it clearly and repeat what you said.”
“Can’t even act like a human being,” the staff mutters.
“Say it again. Who is dog?” the passenger says, this time in English.
According to the state-owned media outlet The Paper, Yuan said he was checking into a China Southern Airlines flight at Singapore’s Changi Airport on May 23 and wanted to switch his seat.
When he was told that he’d be charged a higher fee because his new seat gave him extra legroom, Yuan objected, saying he had never faced additional costs for such requests in the past, per The Paper.
Yuan accused ground staff of discriminating against him because of the language he spoke, according to the outlet.
Clips of the confrontation have gone viral on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok,
China Southern Airlines’ Singapore sales department issued an apology on Saturday, saying it reached out to Yuan. The airline added that the ground staff member was employed by a local agency.
“While serving the passenger, the staff member engaged in a dispute with the passenger and used language that was severely inappropriate,” its statement said.
The carrier added that it had asked the local agency to bar the staff member from working for China Southern Airlines’ Singapore branch. It also promised to improve its service standards and staff management.
In a similar incident, Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific on Tuesday fired three flight attendants after they were accused of mocking passengers’ English.
The trio was recorded making fun of Chinese passengers who said they wanted blankets but struggled to make the request. “If you cannot say blanket in English, you cannot have it,” one of the attendants can be heard saying.
Cathay Pacific CEO Ronald Lam apologized for the incident, saying the airline would review its staff training.
