Banned from flying because they did not allow passengers in the front seat to recline

In a statement on September 22, Cathay Pacific announced that it would ban two passengers who caused trouble and did not allow the person sitting in front to recline their seats. At the same time, the airline also sent “sincere apologies” to the female passenger sitting in the front row for the unpleasant experiences she encountered.

The airline said that its zero-tolerance policy for all violations of flight safety regulations and disrespect for the rights of other passengers is the basis for refusing to provide all flight services to the two above-mentioned passengers in the future. hybrid.

A female passenger from mainland China recounted her experience during a flight from Hong Kong to London on September 17 on the social network Xiaohongshu. Accordingly, the person sitting behind asked her not to recline her seat because it would affect her husband sitting next to her who was watching an entertainment program on the screen in front. Female tourist from mainland China refused to straighten her chair. “She immediately put her feet on the armrest of my chair, kicked my arm and cursed me repeatedly,” the female passenger recounted.

The flight attendant tried to mediate the argument but was unsuccessful. “The person sitting below realized that my Cantonese was not good and immediately started making harsh, discriminatory comments,” the female passenger recounted.

Despite being part of China, Hong Kong people mainly speak Cantonese while mainland Chinese speak Mandarin.

Frustrated by being insulted, the female passenger from mainland China began recording. The husband of the woman sitting in the back then pushed hard on the armrest of the upper seat and shook it repeatedly. Passengers sitting around had to intervene and defend the young woman against the couple’s actions. In the end, the flight attendant had to change seats with the female passenger in the upper seat to end the dispute.

Sharing in the video, the female passenger said she “felt unreasonable” because of the actions of the two passengers in the back, and expressed her concern that if not defended by the people sitting around, she didn’t know where things would go.

The issue of reclining seats or not is also one of the most controversial topics for airline passengers. In 2022, a passenger named Jovannie, from California, USA also encountered a similar situation. When the plane took off successfully, she leaned back in her seat to rest but was opposed by the person sitting behind her. They said that if she reclined her chair, they wouldn’t be able to use the laptop because there would be no space left for the computer. Finally, Jovannie had to straighten his seat back during the 6-hour flight.

According to regulations of airlines around the world, passengers must only straighten their seat backs when the plane takes off, lands or passes through turbulence. Otherwise, even during food service, if passengers refuse to eat, they can still recline their seats.

A former flight attendant for a Korean airline said Jovannie was allowed to recline his seat without having to give up the person behind him. “There are no specific regulations on reclining seats on the plane. In this case, the flight attendant can change seats with one of the two passengers if there are empty seats,” this person said.

“If you want a comfortable space and don’t have to be bothered by people reclining your seat, sit in business class,” another reader suggested.