Cathay Pacific has banned a couple from flying with them ever again after a row broke out with passenger over a reclining plane seat. The Hong Kong -based airline revealed on Saturday that the couple had been added to their no-fly list, adding it has a “strict zero-tolerance policy” towards behaviours that disrespected other passengers, the BBC reported. A Chinese woman posted on the social media platform Xiaohongshu, speaking out about her alleged experience with the couple on a flight from Hong Kong to London on 17 September.
In her post, the woman stated that a middle-aged couple had accused her of obstructing their view of the in-flight television while onboard a Cathay aircraft and asked her if she could straighten her seat. When the woman refused, she claimed that the wife then stretched her legs out, putting them on the armrest of her seat, before starting to speak to her in Cantonese, cursing and slapping her arm. "When she realised I couldn’t speak Cantonese, she started calling me ‘mainland girl’ in a derogatory tone," she said, according to the BBC.
The woman went on to claim that the husband, who was seated directly behind her, “frantically pushed” the back of her seat. A clip on social media shows the chair vibrating as the man’s arms lay over the back of it. Another clip showed the wife raising her middle finger on the woman.
She said that she then sought assistance from a flight attendant, who suggested that she straighten her seat. "I was shock.