- Chinese airline staff have been criticized for telling a passenger they would treat him “like a dog”.
- The passenger said he was in Singapore and checking in for a China Southern Airlines flight.
- The carrier apologized for the incident and said the staff member was an employee of a local agency.
The ground crew of a Chinese airline went viral for a video in which he tells a passenger that he would treat him “like a dog”.
The clip, posted last week on Chinese social media by the passenger, shows staff typing on a device at a check-in counter as they uttered the insult.
“If you want to be a dog, then I can treat you like a dog. It’s very simple,” he told the passenger, who gave his last name Yuan, in Mandarin to Chinese media.
“Who is the dog? Please clarify,” the off-camera passenger replies, also in Mandarin.
—JoyceChi🇨🇳（互fo） (@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 intervenes. “Say it clearly and repeat what you said.”
“I can’t even act like a human being,” the staff mutters.
“Say it again. Who’s the dog?” says the passenger, this time in English.
According to the state media PaperYuan said he would check in for a China Southern Airlines flight at Singapore’s Changi Airport on May 23 and wanted to change seats.
When told he would be charged a higher fee because his new seat gave him more legroom, Yuan objected, saying he had never faced additional costs for such requests in the past, according to The Paper.
Yuan accused the 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, the Chinese version of TikTok,
China Southern Airlines Singapore Sales Department issued an apology on Saturday, saying that he approached Yuan. The airline added that the ground crew member was employed by a local agency.
“While serving the passenger, the staff member got into a dispute with the passenger and used language that was severely inappropriate,” the statement said.
The airline added that it had asked the local agency to ban the staff member from working for the Singapore branch of China Southern Airlines. 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 were recorded mocking Chinese passengers who said they wanted blankets but had trouble applying. “If you can’t say blanket in English, you can’t have it,” one of the attendees can be heard saying.
Cathay Pacific CEO Ronald Lam apologized for the incident and said the airline would review the training of its staff.
