'I can treat you like a dog': China Southern Airlines counter staff at Changi Airport insults passenger, airline apologises

A clip of a conversation between a traveller and China Southern Airlines' ground staff at Changi Airport has gone viral, after the employee at the check-in counter was filmed insulting the passenger, calling the latter "a dog".

According to Chinese media reports, the passenger, identified by his surname Yuan, was checking in for his flight CZ546 from Singapore to Chongqing on Tuesday (May 23).

The Paper reported that Yuan had wanted to confirm if there was an extra charge for seats near the emergency exit.

He then asked the counter staff if there was anyone there who could speak Mandarin.

Despite overhearing staff members speaking amongst themselves in Mandarin, Yuan claimed that the male counter staff who served him pretended not to understand what he was saying and ignored his query.

According to Chinese media, Yuan felt discriminated against for speaking in Mandarin and proceeded to use his mobile phone to take down the staff's particulars.

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Yuan alleged that it was then that the employee insulted him, stating that the latter "used three languages (to scold me), 'you are a dog, you don't understand human language'."

In a clip uploaded to social media, however, the alleged remarks were not recorded.

Instead, the staff member was captured on camera saying: "If you want to be a dog, I can treat you like a dog... That's easy."

Yuan then retorted off-camera: "You are the dog. Who's a dog, say it again clearly."

The irate counter staff accused Yuan of "butting in", as their bickering continued, and the former also appeared to mutter under his breath: "Don't even know how to be a human."

China Southern Airlines has since issued an apology to the passenger over the incident and stated that it has ordered its ground service provider to suspend the services of the employee in the video.

In a statement issued via its Wechat account on Saturday, the airline indicated that the ground counter staff in question was employed by a local agency entrusted by the airline.

It added that the employee's language was "grossly inappropriate", and that it had asked the agency to suspend the services of said employee.

The airline promised to strengthen the management of service providers so as to improve the service standards provided by external agencies.

The clip has also sparked a heated discussion online, with some suggesting that the passenger might not be faultless in this scenario. 

"Everyone knows, the passenger must have said some nasty things to make the employee retort in this manner, without regard for his job. Such occurrences are rare in Singapore," wrote one commenter to a TikTok video posted by local Chinese news site 8world.

Several users also shared that it is hard to make a judgement as what had transpired before the clip was not clear.

However, others argued that as someone working in the service industry, the employee should have known better.

"But he's working in the service line. If he can't control his temper he shouldn't take up a front line job," noted one user.

ALSO READ: Cathay Pacific apologises after passenger alleges discrimination

candicecai@asiaone.com