Cathay Pacific discrimination scandal: Hong Kong’s flag carrier has work cut out to fix image but bosses must reflect on own role and not forget staff, PR experts say
- Scandal-hit airline’s bosses must also reflect on their role and not just suggest current woes are about proper training, public relations experts say
- Staff should feel they are proud ambassadors of company rather than just mere employees, they say
It had to create a corporate culture that should permeate throughout the organisation that everyone was conscious of the brand they stood for, they said.
Cathay was rocked by scandal after a Mandarin-speaking passenger accused three flight attendants of mocking customers’ English-language abilities on a flight from Chengdu to Hong Kong on Sunday.
The passenger posted voice recordings on mainland social media platform Xiaohongshu on Monday of a conversation between the flight attendants, in which one said: “If you cannot say ‘blanket’, you cannot have it.”
Cathay’s social media accounts have been flooded with comments, mostly from angry mainland users, disparaging its service standards.
Less than 48 hours after reports of the incident emerged, CEO Ronald Lam Siu-por announced on Tuesday evening that the three crew members had been fired and he vowed to establish a cross-departmental task force to improve the company’s culture of “customers first”.
