Cathay CEO says cabin crew incident hurt Hong Kong’s image

BLOOMBERG

An incident involving three Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd cabin crew making “inappropriate comments” about customers on a recent flight has set back the airline’s recovery and caused significant damage to its image, as well as Hong Kong’s, the carrier’s chief executive officer told employees.
Ronald Lam, who became CEO at the start of the year, was referring to a service from Chengdu to Hong Kong where a passenger recorded flight attendants joking about a Mandarin-speaking customer’s English language ability. The audio clip was posted online and went viral on social media in China. Cathay fired the three crew, who haven’t been identified publicly.
“The incident has been widely circulated in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong media, causing significant damage to the image of Hong Kong and Cathay,” Lam wrote in a memo to staff that was seen by Bloomberg News. “We had to respond and act swiftly, which was necessary to protect the interest of the company and in turn our people overall.”
“This incident has reinforced a perception held by some customers that we have not been able to provide high-quality services to customers from different backgrounds consistently,” he said.
“Many commentators refer to this long-held perception about us. In other words, they believe this is about more than this single incident, but is something much deeper which we need to address.”
The criticism has been strong — Hong Kong’s leader John Lee said he was “outraged and disappointed” and that he’d spoken with Lam to express his concern. Chinese state media also piled on. Among the commentary, Xinhua News Agency said Cathay “won’t fly far” if it doesn’t get rid of its “old sickness.”
China is Cathay’s main market and revenue driver, and therefore key to its recovery from the pandemic.
Cathay, whose main shareholder is British conglomerate Swire Pacific Ltd with a 45% stake, has been under heavy fire in recent years, from outside the company as well as within. Morale among staff was damaged during the pandemic, when jobs and salaries were cut as the carrier battled to survive.
Before the Covid crisis, Cathay was entangled in the 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, with both sides criticising the airline for its handling of the situation after some staff participated in demonstrations.