HONG KONG - Cathay Pacific Airways said it fired three flight attendants after a passenger accused them of bias against non-English speakers, prompting criticism on Chinese state media and Hong Kong’s leader to vow it would not happen again.

Cathay said the experience of passengers travelling on its CX987 flight from the south-western Chinese city of Chengdu to Hong Kong on Sunday caused “widespread concern” and said it sincerely apologised.

The airline fired three flight attendants involved after an internal investigation, chief executive Ronald Lam said. “I would like to reiterate that Cathay Pacific takes a zero-tolerance approach to serious violations of company rules and ethics by individual employees and will not tolerate them,” he said.

He added that he will lead a cross-departmental working group to conduct a comprehensive review of service processes, staff training and related systems to enhance its service quality.

“Most importantly, we must ensure that all Cathay Pacific staff respect passengers from different backgrounds and cultures and provide professional and consistent service in all areas served,” said Mr Lam.

A passenger on the flight from Chengdu to the global financial hub wrote in a post on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu that flight attendants complained among themselves about passengers in English and Cantonese.

The post said the flight attendants made fun of others for asking for a carpet instead of a blanket in English. “If you cannot say blanket in English, you cannot have it. Carpet is on the floor. Feel free if you want to lie on it,” said a flight attendant, according to a recording that was circulated widely online.

Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the clip, which triggered criticism on social media.

The passenger who posted the clip also wrote that Cathay executives had called her to learn more about what happened on the flight.

Hong Kong’s flagship carrier has been trying to rebuild the airline as it emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic. It was badly hit by Covid-19-related flight cancellations, border closures and strict quarantine measures for crew, resulting in drastic headcount reductions since 2020.

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said on Wednesday that the discrimination incident was serious and could not be repeated.

“The words and deeds of the flight attendants hurt the feelings of compatriots in Hong Kong and the mainland and destroyed Hong Kong’s traditional culture and values of respect and courtesy,” he said, according to a post on his Facebook page.

China’s state-owned People’s Daily, in an online commentary, said it was shocked by the incident against Mandarin-speaking passengers and criticised Cathay’s corporate culture for “worshipping foreigners and respecting Hong Kong people” but looking down on Chinese mainlanders.

“Cathay Pacific can’t just apologise every time, but should rectify heavily, establish rules and regulations, and stop the unhealthy trend from the root,” it said.

The newspaper went on to say that the level of Mandarin in Hong Kong is improving by “leaps and bounds”.

“In Hong Kong, the trend of worshipping English and looking down on Mandarin is bound to disappear,” the newspaper added. REUTERS