Editorial | Cathay Pacific must get its house in order for the sake of Hong Kong

International airlines project an image of their nationality and people. Pilots and cabin crew may leave personal impressions that form part of the travel experience for frequent and infrequent fliers alike. To leave a good impression they might have to bridge language and cultural differences.

In a perfect world, flight and cabin crew would be polyglot – or speak many languages. In the real world they are most likely mono- or bilingual like the rest of us.

What sets Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways apart is that it can be one airline with three predominant languages among its local staff and passengers – Cantonese, English and Mandarin. This can create a language barrier between crew and passengers that staff must treat sensitively.

A case in point has landed Cathay in a public relations disaster and political hot water. The airline has fired three cabin crew after complaints they insulted non-English-speaking mainlanders on a Chengdu-Hong Kong flight on Sunday. A passenger has triggered a media storm by sharing details, prompting apologies from the airline and a stern reprimand from Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu.

According to reports, flight attendants made fun of passengers by saying in English: “If you can’t say blanket (in English) you cannot have it,” and (one flight attendant to another) “they (non-English-speaking mainlanders) cannot understand the human language”, after reminding people to remain seated while the seat belt light was on, as an elderly passenger holding a child went to the toilet.

Cathay chief executive Ronald Lam Siu-por has promised to lead a task force review of the whole company to ensure such a thing never happens again. Lee was “outraged and disappointed” at an incident that hurt the city’s image. Rightly, he added that the airline must review staff training and improve its customer service culture.