Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - Cathay Pacific apologizes for airport tantrum video: woman gets upgrades and miles!

Cathay said it had apologized to the woman "for the inconvenience and embarrassment she may have suffered as a result" and offered to upgrade her seats on her next trip and reimburse her for frequent flier miles she used for upgrades on recent journeys.
Link to usatoday. (http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2009-03-05-airline-passenger-video_N.htm)

Very interesting! When I saw the video I didn't realize it had been taken by a CX employee. I think if a US airline employee had taken a video of a customer having a meltdown and posted it on Youtube, the airline would have had to pay a LOT more than a free upgrade and some miles.

This is outrageous. CX should have issued a statement saying that passengers should never behave in this manner.

Imagine what the woman's behaviour is going to be like when she doesn't get her upgrade confirmed when she tries to use it.

This is outrageous. CX should have issued a statement saying that passengers should never behave in this manner.

Imagine what the woman's behaviour is going to be like when she doesn't get her upgrade confirmed when she tries to use it.

Imagine how many other people are going to try to pull off this stunt after they know they get free miles and upgrades for it... :td: IMHO, i do NOT feel for this woman, even though it was a cx employee recording the clip. :mad:

"[...]as she explained the embarrassment the video has caused her."

Yeah, the video caused the embarrassment....:rolleyes:


They should have given her two upgrades - on a different airline!

This is ridiculous! What example is this going to show to other travelers?

CX should have come out and say that it is unacceptable for customers to show up late to their flights, and express their anger in a crazy manner at gate agents.

I have had too many flights where late or even no-show customers, and flight is delayed 30 minutes while trying to offload bags.

There is really nothing for CX to appologize for.

Very interesting! When I saw the video I didn't realize it had been taken by a CX employee. I think if a US airline employee had taken a video of a customer having a meltdown and posted it on Youtube, the airline would have had to pay a LOT more than a free upgrade and some miles.

If this happened at LAX, you'd see a bunch of officers with guns drawn, and she would have been thrown in jail already with some BS charge filed against her.

Apologize? They must be crazy. I watched the video and it is shocking. I don't know anything about the law in Hong Kong (was the incident there?) In the US an airport is a public place, and it would be perfectly legal and proper to video any happenings and to post the video.

After that disturbance, she should be banned from CX for life!

What's even more amazing is that security would've been called long ago in most other airports. Kudos for CX for trying to sort out the mess first.

And in a slight dig at my home airport, this kind of behaviour would have qualified her for a expeditious tazering. She's lucky she didn't have this fit at YVR.

Where was this woman actually heading to (final destination)?. Reports said she initally was suppose to board a flight to SFO on Feb 4 which was CX872 and she missed it. Then they said they rebooked her on a later flight to LAX which I assume must be CX880. But 880 gets in (to LAX) late night that I'm not sure if there is a same day connection to SFO which she could have made it (assuming her final destination was SFO). Or did CX also pay her accommodations at LAX to overnight and catch a domestic flight the next morning?

Very interesting! When I saw the video I didn't realize it had been taken by a CX employee. I think if a US airline employee had taken a video of a customer having a meltdown and posted it on Youtube, the airline would have had to pay a LOT more than a free upgrade and some miles.

... a Cathay spokeswoman ... said the person who posted the video on YouTube was not a member of staff and that the employee who had recorded the incident had been disciplined.


http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/transport/137102/cathay-orry-for-tantrum-clip

Where was this woman actually heading to (final destination)?. Reports said she initally was suppose to board a flight to SFO on Feb 4 which was CX872 and she missed it. Then they said they rebooked her on a later flight to LAX which I assume must be CX880. But 880 gets in (to LAX) late night that I'm not sure if there is a same day connection to SFO which she could have made it (assuming her final destination was SFO). Or did CX also pay her accommodations at LAX to overnight and catch a domestic flight the next morning?
I hope she didn't get stuck at FIS and miss her flight again.....

Where was this woman actually heading to (final destination)?. Reports said she initally was suppose to board a flight to SFO on Feb 4 which was CX872 and she missed it. Then they said they rebooked her on a later flight to LAX which I assume must be CX880. But 880 gets in (to LAX) late night that I'm not sure if there is a same day connection to SFO which she could have made it (assuming her final destination was SFO). Or did CX also pay her accommodations at LAX to overnight and catch a domestic flight the next morning?

There might have been a American Eagle connection that leaves at LAX around 9:55pm.

If this happened at LAX, you'd see a bunch of officers with guns drawn, and she would have been thrown in jail already with some BS charge filed against her.

I think CX is encouraging the woman (or other people) to do the same thing again if she travels in US in the future. I really hope she will do it again in LAX/SFO/JFK when she takes another CX flight.

What CX did is totally non-sense! One should be responsible for how he/she behave in public. HKIA is a public place.

What if the video was not taken by a CX staff, but by a third person.

I believe the apology is only because the video was posted on the web and regardless of her absurd behavior, it must be very embarrassing (and permanent) to have the world see this. I assume CX feels somewhat responsible this ended up on the world wide web - posted by someone that is linked to CX.

Had this been posted by a passerby without any - even remote - affiliation to CX, there might have been no apology, as clearly CX did not mistreat this passenger,

I agree, esp if the CX staff in question (I assume) was on duty...he/she was in CX's uniform and definitely was not paid to be responsible during office hours for taking funny videos of pax (and sending to friends who put them on to the web). if it's from some passers-by of course it would be a completely different story. it's quite bad PR for CX to have staff doing this on their pax, although of course there's in general no sympathy from anyone at all about the woman...

I've clearly been doing it wrong. The first (and only) time I missed a CX flight, I went to a ticketing agent who kindly reticketed me on a later flight for HK$1000.

Next time, I need to pop a fufu valve, act like a spoiled child, freak out, ensure it's all captured on film and circulated around the internet - and I should get put on the next flight for no extra charge and upgraded on my next flight.

Someone needs to add this method of obtaining an upgrade onto the CX sticky thread... :)

Someone needs to add this method of obtaining an upgrade onto the CX sticky thread... :)

Noted and agreed! seems like a pretty easy way to get a free upgrade! :p

Newspaper said that the CX staff took that is because they may want to use it as evidence later on if the pax does complain about not able to board the plane not because of CX, but because the pax is late herself
and I dont see why is it that CX really needs to apologise because of the embarassment caused...she embarassed herself already at the airport....

Has anyone seen the clip? have a link to it on YouTube?

Has anyone seen the clip? have a link to it on YouTube?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goGLe3B-8yk

And here is one of the follow-ups: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im7W1AnDmgA

are people in hong kong having that much pressure that they need to release it like this....

And here is one of the follow-ups: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im7W1AnDmgA

This is funny. That poor gweilo woman doesn't know what to think. Or perhaps she's in on the gig.

The way my fellow HK media gets overly obsessive over clips such as this as well as the previous Bus Uncle is unbelievable. These aren't the first time such things have happened in the SAR society for crying out loud. But I guess there is a reason why TV & Newspaper have to make money. :rolleyes:

As for the carrier apologising, it is the boo boo of her own staff of not only filming but failing to keep things confidential and out of the wrong hands.

The clips are hilarious! I've seen people scream out their lungs in public (most recently in Easter Island, of all places, at a Japanese restaurant - a Chinese couple was fighting and the woman was crying like nobody was there... for the entire hour I was there - this lady happened to be coming back to SCL on my flight! :p).

CX employee who filmed this (and obviously posted on the internet) should be compromised for his/her behavior. It's totally unprofessional.

The woman also has her own faults and acting like that doesn't get her anywhere... but I thank her and the CX employee for providing an entertainment and a nice laugh (especially to some Youtubers who were ever so creative to come up with a 'remix' version of the incident :D :D)

CX employee who filmed this (and obviously posted on the internet) should be compromised for his/her behavior. It's totally unprofessional.



There has been an important misconception, as placed by the media and here, and that are CX investigation found that the gate agent DID NOT upload the video on the internet, it was someone else that did this. So I feel that the fact that the agent took the video was probably trying to protect herself if the women in question complained to the supervisor about customer service.

I feel that this issue ties into a larger culture/social issue in HK, and that is the advertisement by government that "customer is always right" mentality. Even though it is true to an extent, some customers just take this message too far, and it really crosses the line between what is and isn't appropriate. Also in HK restaurants, I rarely hear people saying thanks to waiters, but it is much more common here in the states.

Someone in CX took and shared the video. It can be uploaded by anyone else - say, the CX employee's family or good friend. Doesn't mean it's okay for a service employee to do this.

Shame on CX. They should have expressed regret to the woman that the video appeared on the internet, but then they should have promptly BANNED her from all future CX flights.

Shame on CX. They should have expressed regret to the woman that the video appeared on the internet, but then they should have promptly BANNED her from all future CX flights.

Agree with that, cant have people who can explode and disturb other people for things that are not big and could be their own fault at the start