Recently, China Eastern Airlines has been involved in a cabin bullying incident that has sparked public outrage. An airline steward accidentally bumped into a passenger’s elbow while serving, despite apologizing on the spot, they were subjected to a barrage of insults from the passenger, leading to the steward being forced to kneel and seek reconciliation. The airline’s initial attempt to downplay the incident and sacrifice the dignity of its employees has drawn widespread attention and criticism from the public.
The incident of an Eastern Airlines steward kneeling to apologize has gone viral across the internet. According to Mr. Zhang, an eyewitness who spoke to “Vision News,” the incident occurred on September 28 on a flight from Hefei to Dalian. The steward was pushing a food cart to provide service, moving at a not very fast pace, and accidentally touched the elbow of a male passenger.
“Describing the man who was bumped, he didn’t bleed, and the chief steward brought an ice pack to apply, so it shouldn’t have been serious,” Mr. Zhang stated. He mentioned that the steward knelt down two or three times for quite some time, and later the man demanded to be taken to a hospital upon landing.
On September 30, the airline issued a statement confirming that the steward had apologized multiple times on the spot and checked on the passenger’s condition. However, the passenger lost control of his emotions, continuously using vulgar and extremely aggressive language, even threatening to kick the steward and demanding that the steward accompany him for medical treatment upon landing, causing the steward to be scared. The statement, however, did not mention the “kneeling steward” incident.
Following the release of the statement, internet users were outraged, with many criticizing: “Warm service needs rules to protect it. Indulging unreasonable behavior will only disappoint the whole service industry. Frontline workers should not sweat and shed tears in vain.” Some internet users questioned, “Isn’t it because Eastern Airlines doesn’t see its employees as humans that such a vicious incident occurred? Is this how they protect the legitimate rights of their employees?”
As a result of this incident, the working environment of aviation professionals has also come under scrutiny from the public.
On October 3, former flight attendant Yang Nan (pseudonym) revealed to “Caijing Magazine” that flight attendants face high pressure and strict regulations in their daily work, with numerous exams from training to official duties. Being late or missing flights has serious consequences, and their appearance must be impeccable, so she worked cautiously every day. Yang Nan is said to have worked for one of China’s three major airlines.
Recalling an incident, Yang Nan mentioned a flight to Christchurch, New Zealand, which lasted more than ten hours one way. After the flight, she received feedback from the cabin manager that a passenger complained about not receiving a wet towel. Despite it being impossible to verify the incident, the company still deemed the complaint valid, leading to her performance bottoming out for the month, having to write self-reflections, facing multiple levels of talks with management, and being forced to come to the company on her scheduled days off to take on “nine-to-six” administrative duties. Additionally, she had to obtain commendation letters from five chief stewards or five different flight passengers on subsequent flights.
Facing this “isolated and helpless” environment, Yang Nan eventually exhausted herself and chose to resign. She lamented that the flight attendant industry is like a “besieged city,” with people inside wanting to get out and those outside wanting to get in. Airlines usually “approve resignations at the first opportunity” because there are always people waiting in line to fill the vacancies.
As public outrage grew, Eastern Airlines announced on October 3 that the passenger involved in the incident was suspected of disrupting cabin order, seriously violating the dignity and professional rights of the company’s employees. The company reported the case to the public security authority and suspended offering transport services to the passenger in question, Mr. Ou (who has been put on a blacklist and denied boarding).
Subsequently, netizens uncovered that Mr. Ou is the chairman of Guangdong Wannianqing Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., a publicly listed company, and attached a photo. However, the company’s board secretary later clarified to Fenghuang News Eye that the online rumors were unfounded, as the chairman never boarded the relevant flight, and the chairman reported the matter to the police. Photo evidence confirmed that the person in the circulating photo is not Mr. Ou. Rational netizens also remarked that a chairman of a publicly listed company would not be flying in economy class.
On October 5, the China Air Transport Association (CATA) also issued a notification, stating that it will continue to follow up on the case’s handling, push aviation companies to enhance service management systems and cabin service standards, and strengthen the protection of frontline workers’ rights. CATA emphasized that the warmth of service and the boundaries of rules support each other and must uphold service bottom lines through rules.
However, internet users remained skeptical, with many stating, “They only came out to say these things when it became a big issue. Service industry workers suffer a lot of grievances, all for nothing.” Some commented, “The root cause is the pressure put on workers by capital.”