The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2023
Cathay crew mocked a passenger's English — two apologies were not enough
Crew said 'if you cannot say blanket in English, you cannot have it.' Three fired. State media called it contempt. The apology came late.
Cathay Pacific · 2023-05-21
What happened
On 21 May 2023, a passenger on Cathay Pacific flight CX987 from Chengdu to Hong Kong recorded cabin crew mocking non-English-speaking passengers. The audio captured a crew member saying: 'If you cannot say blanket in English, you cannot have it. Carpet is on the floor.' Laughter followed. The clip went viral on Chinese social media within hours.
Cathay Pacific issued its first apology on 23 May, saying it was sorry for causing 'widespread concern' and had launched an investigation. CEO Ronald Lam apologised separately and announced he would personally lead a taskforce to review the airline's code of conduct. Three flight attendants were dismissed after a swift internal inquiry.
The response did not contain the backlash. Chinese state media accused the airline of 'looking down on mainland Chinese people.' Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said the incident had 'hurt the feelings of compatriots in Hong Kong and the mainland.' The initial apology's phrasing — sorry for the concern caused, not for the conduct itself — was widely read as institutional defensiveness, and the two-day gap between the incident and the first statement read as indifference.
Why it happened
- The first apology addressed the reaction ('widespread concern') rather than the act, which signalled that the airline's problem was the publicity, not the behaviour
- Two days elapsed between the flight and the first public statement, during which the story was framed entirely by the recording and by state media
- Firing three crew members addressed the individuals but not the culture the recording implied — a cabin where language became a gate for basic service
- The CEO's taskforce announcement was forward-looking process language at a moment the audience wanted a moral statement
The lesson
In a crisis of contempt, the first sentence must name what was done wrong — apologising for the concern caused instead of the act itself tells the audience you still do not see the problem.
Aftermath
Cathay Pacific completed its internal review and introduced additional service training. The airline's mainland-China routes recovered, but the incident became a reference point in Chinese media for service-industry language discrimination. The case is cited in PR courses as an example of how a late, process-heavy apology can deepen a crisis that a fast, specific one might have contained.
Sources
- SCMP: Cathay Pacific apologises after passenger accuses cabin crew of discrimination
- BBC: Cathay Pacific fires three crew after discrimination row
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