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Cathay Pacific responds to reports of Facebook hot coffee threat
Cathay Pacific has issued a statement after reports that one of its cabin crew posted threats to a passenger on Facebook and said she had wanted to throw hot coffee over her.
The flight attendant, who is no longer working for the airline, allegedly posted the threats to the passenger, who was the daughter of exiled Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
She is reported to have identified passenger Paetongtam Shinawatra as "the daughter of my enemy" when she spotted her sitting in business class.
She also said that she informed her flight manager she could not work knowing "the daughter of my enemy was on board" and that she wanted to throw coffee at the passenger but restrained herself because "this could breach Hong Kong’s law".
A spokesman for Cathay said: "We have investigated the matter thoroughly. We can confirm that the incident involved a member of our cabin crew who has privately posted certain information on a social media site about one of our passengers and that it is an unauthorised incident. We can also confirm that the cabin crew concerned is no longer an employee of the company.
"Cathay Pacific regrets this unfortunate incident and wishes to assure all of our customers that their privacy – and strict adherence to all privacy regulations – is extremely important to us. All staff are expected to strictly adhere to our privacy policies as well as the highest standards of customer service. Non-compliance is unacceptable. We have highlighted this message to staff again today.
"The company is continuing in its attempts to reach the passenger in hopes of personally expressing its apology to her.
"The airline is very honoured to serve Thailand and looks forward to demonstrating to its many customers across the country that this was an isolated incident."
Gretchen Kelly
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