China flights ‘delayed by passenger quarrel and flight attendant’s shopping spree’
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 24 February, 2015, 12:02pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 24 February, 2015, 12:17pm
Laura Zhou [email protected]
Two Chinese flights over the past few days were allegedly delayed - one by a row between passengers and another when a flight attendant arrived late after going shopping. Photo: Xinhua
Two incidents of flight delays in China over the past few days – one allegedly caused by a flight attendant who arrived late after going shopping and the other by a quarrel between passengers – have raised eyebrows online.
A flight yesterday from Beijing to Chengdu was delayed for nearly two hours after some passengers allegedly quarrelled over seating arrangements, mainland media said.
The dispute broke out before the plane was scheduled to take off at 11am, the Beijing Youth Daily said, quoting an internet user who was on the plane.
The internet user also said that several members of the flight crew had tried to mediate between the rowing passengers, and the aircraft finally took off at about 1pm.
The report did not identify the airline or the flight involved, but it quoted “a staff member from the airline” that the flight was possibly delayed because of the quarrel, which had delayed the closing of the aircraft’s door.
The unnamed airline told the newspaper that the take-off had been delayed because it was “waiting for passengers”.
In another case, an Air China passenger flying from Seoul to Chongqing on Saturday afternoon complained in a microblog that passengers were made to wait until five minutes after the scheduled boarding time before finally getting on the aircraft at Incheon International Airport, when a flight attendant arrived carrying several shopping bags.
However, Air China denied the claim yesterday, saying that the attendant was back at work just before the first passenger began to board and the flight had never been delayed, the Beijing Times said.
The microblogger posted comments on his weibo page on Sunday evening saying that Air China’s Chongqing branch had told him that all his complaints were true and it appreciated him making the complaint.
However, the microblog was deleted this morning.
