A report in The Herald Sun says a Qantas flight attendant allegedly made anti-semitic remarks to a Jewish passenger travelling in first class.
Executive David Moses, 35, has lodged a formal complaint with the airline alleging the woman repeatedly made derogatory comments about Jews, even after discovering he was Jewish.
Mr Moses said he had never experienced such “extremely offensive” racism in his life.
He described how the flight attendant complained to him about an elderly French passenger who became agitated about confirming a wheelchair for her husband on arrival.
Mr Moses said the attendant turned to him and said, “Jews”.
When he asked her what she meant, she allegedly replied, “That’s what you get when you deal with Jews.”
Mr Moses, who is managing director of a finance company, said an off-duty Qantas staff member who was travelling as a passenger “cringed” as he witnessed the exchange.
After telling her “I am Jewish”, Mr Moses claimed the attendant responded with “Well, you better tell her that she’s letting your team down”.
“I was so taken aback that I didn’t know what to say,” Mr Moses said. “The stewardess then said something like: ‘I’ll tell you who is the worst, South African Jews’.”
Mr Moses, who is a frequent passenger with Qantas, had been returning from a holiday on flight QF32 from Singapore to Sydney when the alleged incident took place on August 1.
On his return home, he made a telephone complaint and sent two emails to the airline’s customer service, but received no answer for two weeks, apart from an automated email response.
He was appalled that Qantas, whose slogan is “The spirit of Australia”, took so long to respond to his complaint.
“In 35 years, I have never been subjected to such racist comments,” Mr Moses said.
He described himself as “pretty easy-going” but believed the alleged incident might have breached the Racial Vilification Act as well as the airline’s code of conduct.
Now he wants the airline to investigate and ensure the flight attendant receives appropriate cultural awareness counselling.
Lesley Grant, Qantas group general manager for customer products and services, said the airline was “conducting a thorough investigation into the incident”.
Report by The Mole
