Passenger gets harassed by a couple behind her for reclining her seat; Cathay Pacific bans them from all their flights for bad behaviour

HONG KONG: A couple has been banned from boarding Cathay Pacific flights for bad behaviour. The couple had fought with a mainland Chinese woman over her reclining seat.

The woman in question posted her experience on social media about how she was harassed by a couple behind her when she tried to recline her seat on the plane.

Couple from Hong Kong blacklisted by Cathay Pacific after calling fellow passenger ‘mainland girl’

👉 https://t.co/vYahq6zNFO pic.twitter.com/BunCu5eENC

— MustShareNews (@MustShareNews) September 22, 2024

The woman wrote about her experience on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu. It has had more than 194,000 likes since Monday morning with mixed reactions.

The airline announced on Sept 22 that it had put the couple on its no-fly list as it had a zero-tolerance policy for bad behaviour. The episode occurred on a flight from Hong Kong to London on Sept 17.

The woman wrote that a middle-aged husband and wife had accused her of obstructing their view of the in-flight television and asked her to straighten her seat.

When she refused, the wife stretched out her legs and put them on the armrests of her seat. The woman said that the wife then started berating her in Cantonese while slapping her arm.

“When she realised I couldn’t speak Cantonese, she started calling me ‘mainland girl’ in a derogatory tone,” she wrote.

The husband, seated behind her, then “frantically pushed” the back of the seat. That part was captured in her video on social media, which showed the seat vibrating.

The woman then asked for help from a stewardess who suggested she straighten her seat.

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

Passengers who witnessed the incident called out the couple’s behaviour.

“Don’t call yourself a Hong Konger, you bully,” said one passenger.

“This is too much. How old are you? Why are you bullying a young girl,” said another.

The woman’s social media post also garnered similar feedback.

“If they want more space, they should have paid for first-class seats,” wrote one individual.

Another person commented, “Most people in Hong Kong are kind; this couple is an exception.”

The whole experience drew mixed reactions, giving rise to a debate on whether reclining one’s seat on an aeroplane is the right thing to do.