Cathay Pacific discrimination scandal: is it the tip of an iceberg of low morale, simmering Hong Kong-mainland tensions or just inexcusable bad behaviour?

Staff at Hong Kong’s flag carrier Cathay Pacific keep hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Over the past few days, the airline has been embroiled in a widening scandal as its crew were caught openly humiliating mainland Chinese passengers. Recently, its pilots were accused of deliberately slowing down while taxiing their planes. In the first of a two-part series, Cannix Yau, Jess Ma and Oscar Liu report on Cathay’s crisis.

Hong Kong’s beleaguered airline Cathay Pacific has to engage in serious soul-searching on the real cause of a snowballing insult debacle or risk ruining the city’s tourism reputation, insiders and critics warned on Wednesday.