A couple of days ago I wrote about a situation that was going viral in South Korea, based on what happened on a KLM flight from Amsterdam to Seoul.
What happened on the controversial KLM flight?
Essentially a KLM crew had decided that a lavatory was for the exclusive use of the crew, but they only wrote a sign in Korean saying so. The crew claimed that the lavatory was blocked off in order to keep the crew safe from coronavirus.
As shown, the sign does come across as racist, in my opinion. They’re clearly suggesting that Koreans shouldn’t use the lavatory, while others can. The question of course comes down to whether this was an honest mistake/oversight (and they just forgot to write the message in English and/or Dutch), or whether this was intentional.
This story has hugely hurt KLM’s reputation in South Korea, and as a result, KLM has now issued a formal apology.
KLM apologizes, explains situation
KLM’s VP of Korea, Japan, and New Caledonia held a press conference at the Four Seasons Seoul to apologize for the situation.
This started with two extended bows (it’s incredible how many cameras seem to be flashing during this — clearly this was a huge press conference), and then he emphasized the following points during his speech:
- “We would like to express our sincere apologies to all passengers who were offended by the operation and the announcements of the crew on the lavatories.”
- “It is not KLM policy to reserve lavatory for crew.”
- “The decision was taken by the crew, the announcement was written in Korean, and the English version was added later, only when it was pointed out by some customers.”
- “This is a human mistake, but we don’t take it lightly, and again we apologize for it.”
- “We take the allegations that we have discriminated against a part of our customers very seriously. We are deeply sorry that this was viewed as discrimination, which was absolutely not the intention of the crew.”
- “The issue is under investigation internally. To prevent this from happening again, our executive vice president for inflight services, will take all necessary measures.”
- “The members of that particular crew will talk with inflight senior management when they will arrive in Amsterdam.”
- “In addition, we have reminded yesterday to all KLM crew worldwide that it is not allowed to reserve lavatories for the sole usage of the crew, and we will remind this at every crew briefing prior to the flights departing or arriving in Seoul.”
- “We would like to take the opportunity to apologize to the passengers who have been inconvenienced onboard this KLM aircraft, and to the people of the Republic of Korea, who have been offended by the incident.”
Here’s the video:
My take
It’s clear that an apology like this was needed for things to get back to normal in Korea for KLM. In the US someone gets dragged off the plane bloodied and unconscious, and the company’s CEO simply claims that the passenger was “reaccommodated.”
Here the airline rented a ballroom at the Four Seasons to issue an apology just a couple of days after the incident. That being said, they’re not really apologizing for the actions of the crew as such, but rather are apologizing for anyone who was offended.
As I said all along, the sign definitely came across as racist. Whether or not that was the intention of the crew is unknown (generally I try to give individuals, rather than companies, the benefit of the doubt).
What do you make of KLM’s apology?
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@Jr
if South Koreans see racism in this I'm very curious what their concept of racism is. Obviously not the same as it is seen in, say, US or Europe . However I think the way some South Korean media immediately started stirring up this incident is very unprofessional and might damage relations .
As an African American, you need to learn what racism is. This isn't it.
If the frenchies are involved in this witch hunt so they can steal flights from amsterdam I swear to the holy spirit they will get it back once ! not exactly the first time in history they try to F the dutch.
@Pete They are acting. read what they said. And I don't blame them for that. We must not fall for for fake racism accusations. In fact the South Koreans should make excuses to KLM for all the troubles they caused.
The South Korean passenger is the racist here, because she refused to believe a white person. I bet if a Korean (or other non-white ) purser explained to her it was ”just a mistake” and no racism. Hypocrite South Koreans, expect to make excuses, we're not buying your cheap fake racism narrative.
@Jc What do you mean with ''you white people''? According to you all white people are the same? Sorry I think you're the racist here.
And an idea for KLM : if possible, switch the Seoul route for a daily flight to Miami, and kick out Korean Air from Amsterdam. Stop doing business with these crazy a--holes!
This press conference, well its more like a war tribunal, is very intimidating for these employees and can't be without consequences for South Korea. Also the status of Korean Air as Skyteam-member should really be re-considered. The people as shown are not criminals who just got caught, they are foreign airline employees and this tells a lot about the absence of general human rights in South Korea. Shame on you South Korea you have shown your true face !
Individuals who feel this is racist, should be happy they have never met real racism, while living in a bubble like so many of the world's excess population, focusing on in their world-wide rights delusions.
They have no intention on focusing on their duties to get along or use their brain, and no intentions of shutting up and be grateful, considering that they should never have been born, and now that they are, many...
Individuals who feel this is racist, should be happy they have never met real racism, while living in a bubble like so many of the world's excess population, focusing on in their world-wide rights delusions.
They have no intention on focusing on their duties to get along or use their brain, and no intentions of shutting up and be grateful, considering that they should never have been born, and now that they are, many of them instead piss, moan and scream everywhere.
KLM attendants should be rewarded and heralded publicly for their no-nonsense handling, and sorry that their management had to use time and ressources to apologize to rights confused imbeciles.
I fly ONLY KLM and no other airline, because being Dutch (and I am not) means doing the right thing, and face any consequences. That's my take, and let's see if I have freedom of speech, or the rights-locus also shut me up and make me do strange things, or they simply block me.
@Michael
Love your reply to John. You nailed it. We White Americans are inundated daily with all this white privilege junk. It's absolutely fair game to discuss what's going on in other nations too!
@Sean no, I'm not "that ESL guy." I don't go to those Itaewon nightclubs. Don't care. Just reporting how I see it and experience.
@John - I LOVE living here. Don't regret a minute of it. But just sometimes you see things in a different light as a foreigner in a different country. Many make the same kind of observations when they live in a foreign country. People would say the same kind of things...
@Sean no, I'm not "that ESL guy." I don't go to those Itaewon nightclubs. Don't care. Just reporting how I see it and experience.
@John - I LOVE living here. Don't regret a minute of it. But just sometimes you see things in a different light as a foreigner in a different country. Many make the same kind of observations when they live in a foreign country. People would say the same kind of things about Americans, whatever.
@Icarus- huh? Assume what based on what? I don't understand your point.
@JC
How about they just tell Koreans to f off and let that be the end of it?
This “apology whatever” is raging more koreans now. Just say one word “it was our fault”. Is it so difficult for you white people?
Well another news that makes me avoid and be rude to my white neighbor in this beautiful hawaii island. Haha..
@Roy Lee
That's not a terrible point but my frame is average. However, it is happening repeatedly where seats next to me are left empty. Apparently the racist Koreans would rather stand for 20+ minutes than sit next to a foreigner.
Even in the rare event where someone does sit next to me, it's usually an older man. Can't remember the last time a young Korean woman chose to sit next to me. I guess my brown skin scares them or repulses them.
@Roy Lee, sometimes it doesn't help your case if you keep responding. This is one of those cases.
@Reginald
"...and pretty much everytime I’m on the metro, none of the racist Koreans will sit next to me."
Seats on the metro over here feel a little tight and cramped even for Koreans with an average body frame. I perfer sitting alone with neighboring seats on both sides vacant till I reach my destination. I feel lucky when that happens to me. I usually do not squeese into a seat when someone...
@Reginald
"...and pretty much everytime I’m on the metro, none of the racist Koreans will sit next to me."
Seats on the metro over here feel a little tight and cramped even for Koreans with an average body frame. I perfer sitting alone with neighboring seats on both sides vacant till I reach my destination. I feel lucky when that happens to me. I usually do not squeese into a seat when someone of a big frame is sitting next to it. It could be someone from another country at times. I never thought I was running the risk of passively engaging in a racist act that way.
Having said this, I do imagine that it could be a little embarrassing if no one standing in font of me would take the two empty seats right beside me in a packed subway train. If this happens repeatedly, hmm...I dunno. But if you could, you could maybe jsut see them as doing you a favor.
@Roy Lee
Actually I'm more likely to give KLM my business now.
@Michael Hollifield Why do you live in Korea when it sounds like you don't like Koreans or their culture?
Maybe it's your attitude towards them that they can see right through you!
@Reginald
Thanks for your honest retort. It helps me understand you better. As a frequent flyer, I have never seen or heard of a flight attendant fiddling with her cell phone while on duty. And the passenger was doing nothing but asking a couple of legitimate questions in a calm, polite tone. Is it a KLM policy for FAs to tape conversations with ordinary passengers? She was not causing a commotion or anything.
Far,...
@Reginald
Thanks for your honest retort. It helps me understand you better. As a frequent flyer, I have never seen or heard of a flight attendant fiddling with her cell phone while on duty. And the passenger was doing nothing but asking a couple of legitimate questions in a calm, polite tone. Is it a KLM policy for FAs to tape conversations with ordinary passengers? She was not causing a commotion or anything.
Far, far.....from the kind of customer service and attitude expected of airline staff. The image of KLM service is now engrained in the minds of many.....as good as that wrinkled up piece of paper used as an "official annoucement" targeted at one ethnic group of the passengers.
Do you want to see how racist the world is, look at how ALL Asians are treated because of coronavirus even if these Asians are born in the US and never been to China. If black people were treated this way, it would be even bigger news but Asians continue to take the racism and handle it well.
@Reginald
If Lucky’s post was about that*, then I would be outraged. But it wasn’t. Simple.
@Sean
So you're only outraged when Whites discriminate against Asians but not the reverse? That's interesting.
@Roy Lee
The passenger isn't entitled to know anything about what the FA did with her personal iPad. I would have told them to F*** off when they asked.
@mike You assume . I have Korean , Pinoy and Japanese in my family. My partner is mixed race
Amazing how you can assume someone’s ethnicity from a message
Reginald:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pRKksA2yv8 ( At 3:33 )
In the recorded audio on the KLM flight, the Korean passenger wants to know why the VP checked with her IPhone (or IPad). Obviously she was checking it while speaking with her.
(She might have been videotaping the passernger.) It's very unsual for a flight attendant to play with her iPhone while speaking with passengers. She just wanted to know what she was doing with it.
@Michael Hollifield
Ah, the ESL guy :) So instead of calling out what happened on the KLM flight, we get a form of "BuT KoReA doEs iT tOO." Omg. Give it a break. Enough already. It sucks they didn't let you into the nightclub.
Great post Michael. I've been to Korea and pretty much everytime I'm on the metro, none of the racist Koreans will sit next to me. Maybe I'll make a big deal about it next time and demand to see their iPads!
Living in Korea now for 8+ years. Koreans are taught to be VERY proud, even if they don’t know why. So this means that they also get VERY offended VERY easily at the tiniest of slights. For example, a guy on Sex Education made a joke “my you know what takes like kimchi” - outrage! So horrible and offensive! How dare he!
Mind you - Koreans can dish out the racism and discrimination -...
Living in Korea now for 8+ years. Koreans are taught to be VERY proud, even if they don’t know why. So this means that they also get VERY offended VERY easily at the tiniest of slights. For example, a guy on Sex Education made a joke “my you know what takes like kimchi” - outrage! So horrible and offensive! How dare he!
Mind you - Koreans can dish out the racism and discrimination - no foreigner bars, no Chinese bc of virus, black face by popular comedians and nobody bats an eye...
This type of apology is THE way to show you’re sorry. Many times it’s not sincere, but you damn well better do it. That’s the Korean way. Then they move on.
KLM-Korean Lives Matter
Perhaps the passenger in the original story would like to see the KLM VP's iPad? They're so entitled to it.
Noble in effort… but falls flat on follow up. Are the crew officially reprimanded, or just the ones in question? What about the passengers? Will they be compensated with a discount on future travel? How are they going to address rebuilding the brand loyalty for northern Asian markets? These grand overtures are nothing if KLM will hide behind AF executives for protection.
Susan Jamison says:
February 14, 2020 at 11:04 am
How do you know it was written be a crew member?
Nobody has indicated in these replies if one of the KLM crew was of Korean origin to be able to write that?? Or did they Google it and copy it on a piece of Paper. Or was it already prepared for the flight on the ground.
What KLM did is good regardless of...
Susan Jamison says:
February 14, 2020 at 11:04 am
How do you know it was written be a crew member?
Nobody has indicated in these replies if one of the KLM crew was of Korean origin to be able to write that?? Or did they Google it and copy it on a piece of Paper. Or was it already prepared for the flight on the ground.
What KLM did is good regardless of their intentions whatever it may be. They went public and bowed which is what people of that culture do. Seen it in Japan and even with the FAs on ANA. You can see the momentary pause in hoping to get the bow right with one of them and then they stayed in that position for a while and not with a let's get this done and over with. They could have just issued a statement but they did not. If you don't do anything people complain and if you do something people still complain. You will never have this sort of an apology in North America ....what you might expect is a talk to the hand attitude. Okay maybe us folks in Canada are more apologetic and would not hesitate to repair a mistake in a similar manner :)
@KJ
I'm pretty sure they have that right as they are in charge and the rules say no pics of videos' in the plane (or the crew).
I said before. I think having a separate toilet for crew only is fine. The sign can be mistake as they claim.
BUT!! Im more disturb by the fact that they try to delete picture taken from the phone. Also trying to invade the privacy by asking to look at ipad what s he/she doing.
They should apologize for this more than the so called 'no policy of having private toilet for the crew'
@Mike,
How do you know that?
@Icarus: "Omg. Give it a break. Enough already"
Know how everyone here knows that you're white?
People can argue against this apology until they turn blue in the face. But it's done! You are just wasting your breath now. It's obvious to most people here, but to the minority who lack comprehension of this simple situation, here is what it all boils down to:
KLM is a business. Businesses need goodwill and revenue. An employee damaged that business. Management saw threats to goodwill and revenue. Management apologized to restore goodwill and...
People can argue against this apology until they turn blue in the face. But it's done! You are just wasting your breath now. It's obvious to most people here, but to the minority who lack comprehension of this simple situation, here is what it all boils down to:
KLM is a business. Businesses need goodwill and revenue. An employee damaged that business. Management saw threats to goodwill and revenue. Management apologized to restore goodwill and revenue. Business moves on. It ain't rocket science or deep philosophical musing.
@Sam
I'm pretty sure Air France's F cabin is one of the best in the industry, same thing applies to LX.
@Jay from RKSI
Looks like you have an inferiority complex, you should seek help.
I don't really care about the racism part of this story all that much.
This incident really is about lazy and crappy FAs serving TPAC/TATL flights, not only in economy but premium cabins.
The laziest crews are almost always on US and European Airlines in that order, although there are some exceptions.
I've had granny FAs sit in empty F class seats doing nothing on numerous flights in the past.
On the other...
I don't really care about the racism part of this story all that much.
This incident really is about lazy and crappy FAs serving TPAC/TATL flights, not only in economy but premium cabins.
The laziest crews are almost always on US and European Airlines in that order, although there are some exceptions.
I've had granny FAs sit in empty F class seats doing nothing on numerous flights in the past.
On the other hand, almost all Asian Airlines have excellent FAs in the premium cabin, with the exceptions of mainland Chinese Airlines.
FWIW, I lived and worked in South Korea for five years. KLM's press conference is very deftly targeted to a Korean audience. Also, this is very on script for PR problems in Korea. Press conferences with apologies and bows are extremely important. Regardless of Korean national pride, it does seem crappy that, in the midst of Corona Virus panic, the flight crew would hastily ban Korean passengers from a lavatory.
Spineless weasels. They should ignore the snowflakery and virtue signalling.
Very interesting as pointed out above that the apology is from Guillaume Glass, an Air France-KLM regional general manager, not just KLM, and clearly from his accent very French. Not much love lost between the two sides of the airline (AF and KL) but it would seem that internationally they have integrated operations (which makes sense).
Funny how the French like to portray the airline as one airline when it suits them and as different...
Very interesting as pointed out above that the apology is from Guillaume Glass, an Air France-KLM regional general manager, not just KLM, and clearly from his accent very French. Not much love lost between the two sides of the airline (AF and KL) but it would seem that internationally they have integrated operations (which makes sense).
Funny how the French like to portray the airline as one airline when it suits them and as different when it could harm them!
Anyway, all fool to KLM to have agreed to be taken over by AF.
Omg. Give it a break. Enough already
Yes Roy Lee, I am Dutch and I can assure you in the Netherlands all official announcements ome on wrinkled pieces of paper.
I am just wondering (if you are Dutch, maybe you can help here).....
Do they use wrinkled up piece of paper for official announcements in Netherlands? Is it an accpeted practice there? The note posted on the door of the laboratory looks ugly, unprofessional and downright insulting to Korean speakers. So I can't help but wonder.
I LOVE South Korea and always had such a good time there and always felt extremely welcome! The fact that only those passengers who were Korean speaking and the flight attendants broke KLM policy simply isn't right. As mentioned, the behaviour simply wasn't right.
I have flown to South Korea twice in 2016 and 2017, so before the virus on BA.
I think that the crew should be reprimanded more for their behaviour and breaking KLM rules about blocking off a toilet reserved 'just for them'. It is very poor customer service. The sign looked very poor (just to hand write something)
On BA they did spray the cabin on an ICN to LHR flights on the ground...
I have flown to South Korea twice in 2016 and 2017, so before the virus on BA.
I think that the crew should be reprimanded more for their behaviour and breaking KLM rules about blocking off a toilet reserved 'just for them'. It is very poor customer service. The sign looked very poor (just to hand write something)
On BA they did spray the cabin on an ICN to LHR flights on the ground in Incheon, but advised people with contact lenses like myself to cover their eyes. I think this might be British Government policy on flight from Asia????? I have no idea.
I think one of the major things is that the flight was DEPARTING from Amsterdam to ICN, rather than the other way around. It is extremely poor behaviour, full stop.
@Icarus I understand. However the impression that I got from John Waters' post was that apparently KLM is doing Korea some sort of favour or public service simply by flying there.
As for KLM being the first European airline to fly to Seoul, they were one of the first for sure, but AF, KL and LH started flying to SEL around the same time (1984-ish). Either way, I think there's still an abundance of...
@Icarus I understand. However the impression that I got from John Waters' post was that apparently KLM is doing Korea some sort of favour or public service simply by flying there.
As for KLM being the first European airline to fly to Seoul, they were one of the first for sure, but AF, KL and LH started flying to SEL around the same time (1984-ish). Either way, I think there's still an abundance of options to fly from Korea to Europe and I would actually say that Finnair is the most important European airline that serves Korea due to minimal backtracking and the fact that they will also serve PUS.
It's nice to know that KLM managers understood they had to go into full-recovery mode. Their performance follows the appropriate script for corporate apologies in east Asia. It seems clear that they recognized the problem and the need for corrective action. Sure, there are racist Koreans -- especially among the older generation less likely to have actually met anyone who isn't Korean. But that doesn't excuse racist behavior on the part of the KLM crew....
It's nice to know that KLM managers understood they had to go into full-recovery mode. Their performance follows the appropriate script for corporate apologies in east Asia. It seems clear that they recognized the problem and the need for corrective action. Sure, there are racist Koreans -- especially among the older generation less likely to have actually met anyone who isn't Korean. But that doesn't excuse racist behavior on the part of the KLM crew. For their part, they may not have /intended/ to be racist, but they were.
@ Michael I meant to add it’s too easy to play the race card nowadays. It wasn’t racist. It’s your opinion of course. It was an error of judgment and culturally insensitive. People make mistakes and learn from them. Move on
@michael Korean Air France and KLM ( along with delta ) are very close partners. Between Amsterdam and Paris to Seoul and back they have a block agreement. You mention Korean above as if they were a competitor. They are not. That means AFKL buys half the seats on the KE operating one and vice versa. KLM was, I’m almost sure , the first European airline to fly to Seoul and they have a very strong profile in addition to sharing quite similar colors
For those of you who are bringing up their experiences of racism in Korea--Sadly, racism exists in every country. However, two wrongs don't make a right. I'm sorry if you encountered a racist individual in Korea, but an international airline that serves international customers should be held to a much higher standard than some ignorant fool with their foot in their mouth that makes a racist remark. The actions that caused offence onboard this flight...
For those of you who are bringing up their experiences of racism in Korea--Sadly, racism exists in every country. However, two wrongs don't make a right. I'm sorry if you encountered a racist individual in Korea, but an international airline that serves international customers should be held to a much higher standard than some ignorant fool with their foot in their mouth that makes a racist remark. The actions that caused offence onboard this flight were carried out by individuals that were representing the airline.
As an Asian, I've been subjected to racist remarks in Cologne and Dusseldorf. However, I don't paint with a broad brush and make claims about how Germans are racist or imply any sort of justification for the airline's indiscretion towards a group of people.
@John Waters LOL! "Koreans benefits way much more from the route than the Dutch."
Maybe you didn't notice how the Korea-EU market is being flooded with options right now.
Not only does Korean Air fly to Amsterdam, they fly to 14 other European cities, and Koreans can also choose Asiana, Emirates, Etihad, Qatar, Turkish, British Airways, Lufthansa, LOT, Finnair, CSA, Alitalia, Aeroflot, among others to get to Europe. KLM can pull out of...
@John Waters LOL! "Koreans benefits way much more from the route than the Dutch."
Maybe you didn't notice how the Korea-EU market is being flooded with options right now.
Not only does Korean Air fly to Amsterdam, they fly to 14 other European cities, and Koreans can also choose Asiana, Emirates, Etihad, Qatar, Turkish, British Airways, Lufthansa, LOT, Finnair, CSA, Alitalia, Aeroflot, among others to get to Europe. KLM can pull out of Korea tomorrow, and I doubt any Koreans will shed a tear. Swiss planned to start flights to ICN this year but couldn't because of the lack of slots, maybe they can take KLM's landing slot at ICN and give it to Swiss instead.
What strikes me is that a frenchman is offering apologies for something that happened on a KLM flight.
While air france is the larger shareholder , the onus for the apology for this incident should come from KLM itself considering that this was on one of their aircraft.
Taking into consideration that the flight originated in AMS,there is a very good probability that the entire crew were Dutch.
How do you know it was written be a crew member?
It is clearly racism. The below link is the recorded Audio file on the KLM's flight to Seoul.
https://youtu.be/2pRKksA2yv8
They must have seen that episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm... no “shit bows”
Having experienced KLM’s discrimination and bad service three times before (in business class and once in economy short haul), because of - what I can only assume was based on my gender, age and appearance - I no longer have any faith in KLM as an airline. I find my option very sad because my father is Dutch and my parents are Platinum For Life.
However, my personal experience of KLM leaves me in disbelief and opposed to ever flying with them again.
@Gruflyer and ThomasK sure bring up topics that people don’t want to mention, but there is truth in what they said. Koreans like any other ethnicity can be very discriminatory. Having been there myself, they only like “pure” Koreans(those born in Korea without any mixing of any ethnicity). Maybe, the Korean establishments should apologize for posting signs that say “No Chinese” or “No Foreigners” or “Koreans only.” Lots of foreigners who have worked or are...
@Gruflyer and ThomasK sure bring up topics that people don’t want to mention, but there is truth in what they said. Koreans like any other ethnicity can be very discriminatory. Having been there myself, they only like “pure” Koreans(those born in Korea without any mixing of any ethnicity). Maybe, the Korean establishments should apologize for posting signs that say “No Chinese” or “No Foreigners” or “Koreans only.” Lots of foreigners who have worked or are working in Korea have faced being yelled at for not speaking Korean or only knowing English or their own language. Most Koreans choose to defend their own kind over foreigners even if they were wrong. There are even Koreans who have mentioned that homosexuality is a western phenomenon and also how they discriminate against those who are LGBTI in public or in the military. With all these said, obviously there are a lot of good and fantastic Korean people, but it is the bad apples that give people bad feelings and thoughts. With that said, any ethnicity can be racist or discriminatory. In this case, at least KLM apologized and no, their style was not wrong. Big companies have been taught to apologize for the feelings of the customers without having to explicitly acknowledge any wrongdoing. I would love to see some or if any Korean company would make a public apology for racism or discrimination.
Okay. From Korea, and as an ethnic Asian, I offer my apology to all KLM cabin crews and employees who were severely offended by presense of "untermenschen" due to me being aboard KLM flights. I also offer my sincere apology to all the people of Kingdom of the Netherlands who may have been offended by my presence. I will make sure that such incidents will not occur ever again, and use my best efforts to...
Okay. From Korea, and as an ethnic Asian, I offer my apology to all KLM cabin crews and employees who were severely offended by presense of "untermenschen" due to me being aboard KLM flights. I also offer my sincere apology to all the people of Kingdom of the Netherlands who may have been offended by my presence. I will make sure that such incidents will not occur ever again, and use my best efforts to make KLM free of Asians, as well as other "untermanchen" whose presence may be of offence to cabin crews and other employees of KLM. /s but I will look for other airlines whose crews are not offended by my presence as an Asian.
The two Europeans guys on the right need to work out...yoga or pilates. I noticed they couldn't bow as deeply as the woman -- likely tense, inflexible muscles.
Their behavior was based on a semi-valid concern that Asian people were more likely to have the Coronavirus disease. While statistically it might be invalid for Koreans, it might be that they consider all Asians to look alike. There might have been passengers that transited from all regions of China, although their language is not Korean!
KLM has to satisfy the concerns of their employees, possibly by asking for volunteers that will get paid...
Their behavior was based on a semi-valid concern that Asian people were more likely to have the Coronavirus disease. While statistically it might be invalid for Koreans, it might be that they consider all Asians to look alike. There might have been passengers that transited from all regions of China, although their language is not Korean!
KLM has to satisfy the concerns of their employees, possibly by asking for volunteers that will get paid a bonus for these flights.
There are airlines flying with masked crew today. There is a video online of an unnamed airline flight ex TLV to Honk Kong which had only one passenger in economy. The video shows the cabin crew in masks. In that case there might have been a higher risk of contagion from the crew than the passenger ex TLV.
Regarding the bowing, it's quite normal for higher up people in Korea to do this when extending an apology. So it's nothing significant as it's the norm in North Asia, I believe only S. Korea and Japan does this.
Aside from this incident, there's a lot of other similar issues going on worldwide where people are lumping all Asians into one and treating them inappropriately due to this coronavirus situation. Reports of restaurants kicking...
Regarding the bowing, it's quite normal for higher up people in Korea to do this when extending an apology. So it's nothing significant as it's the norm in North Asia, I believe only S. Korea and Japan does this.
Aside from this incident, there's a lot of other similar issues going on worldwide where people are lumping all Asians into one and treating them inappropriately due to this coronavirus situation. Reports of restaurants kicking out Asian customers for no reason, people spitting on Asians when they're just minding their own business, etc.
With the comments about Koreans being racist as well to other foreigners in the country, it's unfortunately still the case. Korea has been an ethnically homogeneous society so there's a lot of xenophobia in the country, especially amongst the older generation. This isn't an excuse for how Koreans treat foreigners, especially non-whites who usually get the worst treatment. Hopefully, this all changes as the younger generation is getting better about this. However, there will always be some bad apples, so for you saying "Koreans are hypocrites" you shouldn't generalize an entire country due to the negative interactions you had with select individuals.
Did they give full refund back to passengers?
Do you know how I know there are so many racists in the world? It takes an incident like this for them to have a field day. You can tell just by reading some of these comments. The scary thing is many of these people live or work all around us, yet they can't say or do things that are too obvious in front of our faces, so they wait for something like this to go all out. How pathetic!
Lucky, pls do not try to find any excuses for that crew. KLM has even come out to say no lavatories are meant for crew only.
For them to write in Korean only, the intent is obvious. It is good to hear a formal apology from KLM.
By my reading of the excerpts, I believe KLM totally bungled this one as well.
Nobody can disagree that the crew made a mistake. Actually they made a series of mistakes, too numerous to list here, but my partial list inclues
-assuming Koreans pose a coronavirus threat to the crew
-reserving bathroom for crew and thinking that somehow mitigates that risk
-lying to the passenger who complained, more than once
-dealing...
By my reading of the excerpts, I believe KLM totally bungled this one as well.
Nobody can disagree that the crew made a mistake. Actually they made a series of mistakes, too numerous to list here, but my partial list inclues
-assuming Koreans pose a coronavirus threat to the crew
-reserving bathroom for crew and thinking that somehow mitigates that risk
-lying to the passenger who complained, more than once
-dealing with the passenger in a condescending manner
Also, I think the message and and actions that led to it was xenophobic and racist, at least to the people who were directly affected by it. It is blatantly disingenuous to say that "(the discriminatory action/message) was absolutely not the intention of the crew." The crew, or at least some of them who were directly responsible for this incident, actually did this, based on a xenophobic assumption about Asians. This is not one of those crazy "I did this while sleepwalking" type situation. They did this intentionally. What they did not intend was for them to get in trouble.
Also, by saying "We would like to express our sincere apologies to all passengers who were offended by the operation...," they are victim blaming. They are indirectly saying that there is a distinct possibility that this was, in some bizzaro-KLM-world, a perfect action/message.
The inadequacy of this whole "apology" from KLM is mind-blowing. This is what they should have said at the minimum:
-The crew broke the KLM rules. They will face the consequences of their actions.
-The message/action was unconscionably racist/xenophobic/bigoted.
-KLM do not condone everything that has occured.
-KLM sincerely apologizes for what happened, and we will do everything within our power to prevent this.
There's no need to label the crew as racist. What KLM should do is to apologize for what they did, and condone any future racist/xenophobic/bigoted actions by its employees.
I don't think it takes a genius to come up with that.
It is wrong for KLM to give into these nonsense claims. When only a small minority complains it is ridiculous that companies kowtow to that accusatory behavior by apologizing. They did no wrong. Unlike some smaller businesses KLM is in a position where it can tell anyone to pound sand. The management needs to be fired and actual Dutch people with resolve need to be put in charge of the airline. Koreans benefits way much...
It is wrong for KLM to give into these nonsense claims. When only a small minority complains it is ridiculous that companies kowtow to that accusatory behavior by apologizing. They did no wrong. Unlike some smaller businesses KLM is in a position where it can tell anyone to pound sand. The management needs to be fired and actual Dutch people with resolve need to be put in charge of the airline. Koreans benefits way much more from the route than the Dutch. Amsterdam is already crowded and I suspect tourism to Asia will be hampered for the next few years because of the virus, rightfully so. Safety first. Political correctness never.
I am Caucasian foreigner that has lived in China for about 9 years. When in smaller city walking with our kids we get lot’s of stares and comments “foreigner”.
For the last 3 weeks I have been in South Korea interestingly during the same time the Coronavirus became REALLY BIG in South Korea news. While i do not want to defend KLM or the Dutch i would like to point out that in my...
I am Caucasian foreigner that has lived in China for about 9 years. When in smaller city walking with our kids we get lot’s of stares and comments “foreigner”.
For the last 3 weeks I have been in South Korea interestingly during the same time the Coronavirus became REALLY BIG in South Korea news. While i do not want to defend KLM or the Dutch i would like to point out that in my observation South Korean’s (especially older ones) are very racist! The things visiting Chinese have to go through right now in Korea are terrible. South Koreans think they are superior superstars. (which they are not, even though they do have a very long history of about 4500 years) South Korean’s and all nations take this to heart: How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
This is the typical "sorry not sorry" type of apology that one issues when they clearly don't understand why their actions were wrong. You should never be sorry that somebody else got offended, you should be sorry for offending someone else and point out why you were wrong.
As GRUflyer mentioned there is indeed discrimination against Caucasians, as well as people of colour in South Korea as well as Japan
There are many well reported cases of people being asked to leave shops and bars As far as I am aware they don’t have any particular legislation to prohibit it.
And my own experience is that I’ve been told “ it’s because all white people smell the same “
@ Jordan ... fire them? For such a small mistake? Why not waterboarding them before fireing them? Oh my ...
Interesting twist.
I will say, though, the I have experienced some quite “unconventional” acts of racial conflict in South Korean - something I have never had anywhere else in Asia.
During an excursion to the DMZ the guide told all of us in the tour (mostly Americans and European) over the mic: “Memorize our bus number. If I cannot find you here on time we will depart and leave you behind. You white people all...
Interesting twist.
I will say, though, the I have experienced some quite “unconventional” acts of racial conflict in South Korean - something I have never had anywhere else in Asia.
During an excursion to the DMZ the guide told all of us in the tour (mostly Americans and European) over the mic: “Memorize our bus number. If I cannot find you here on time we will depart and leave you behind. You white people all look the same to me”.
Also, in a club next to the US Embassy I approached a guy to ask a question regarding something completely bogus and before I could open my mouth he shouted “I only like Asians”.
Ok, I know Asians have to hear those racist remarks a lot in the West. But doing the same thing in reverse clearly isn’t the way to go about it?
I think what KLM did here was significant... especially the bowing! Seeing it via the video was more effective to me than the specific words of the apology.
I agree with others the crew’s act definitely discriminated against people who spoke Korean.
However, even before this incident I’d much rather fly Korean Air than KLM from ICN to AMS. Better service for sure!
@steve
Dutch 'racism' is based on hundreds of years of (negative) experience with African and Arab people. The only way to change that would be overriding these negative experiences with lots of positive ones, not with complaints.
Trust me when I say the Dutch are racist! I joined a tour in Amsterdam 2 years ago and the tour guide threw the map straight at my face. I posted the review on Tripadviser and the tour company did not even apologise to me but swept the matter under the carpet! Thank god I did not book KLM for my flight and I wil never do so in my life!
It is racist!. The note was written and the intent was clear! The crew member and cabin boss need to be fired!.
Yes KL rented the Four Seasons ballroom to apologize because they probably saw their bookings to ICN and the region take a hit.
What I find truly interesting on a general note with this coronavirus test, is that black people have been dealing with racial undertones daily for years. People (especially in...
It is racist!. The note was written and the intent was clear! The crew member and cabin boss need to be fired!.
Yes KL rented the Four Seasons ballroom to apologize because they probably saw their bookings to ICN and the region take a hit.
What I find truly interesting on a general note with this coronavirus test, is that black people have been dealing with racial undertones daily for years. People (especially in Asia), but not limited to that continent, not sitting next to black people, treating blacks or people of color like they have some type of disease. In 2020, Asians became the new black!
Things to think on. Goes beyond racism...just the general treatment of fellow human beings.
I really love the concept of bowing in order to apologize. It’s like a physical display of contrition and it’s quite striking to see corporate leaders bowing to an entire nation. Need a bit more of that in the US in my opinion...
Usually I'm strictly against all apologies that have been forced by manufactured public outcry because it shows people who apologize are weak and get crushed.
However KLM handled it brilliantly this time.
On another note, Lufthansa management should take notes how to effectively remind their crews that the front toilet on the A350 is not exclusively for the crew but also for the passengers. CEO Carsten Spohr confirmed in an interview one year ago...
Usually I'm strictly against all apologies that have been forced by manufactured public outcry because it shows people who apologize are weak and get crushed.
However KLM handled it brilliantly this time.
On another note, Lufthansa management should take notes how to effectively remind their crews that the front toilet on the A350 is not exclusively for the crew but also for the passengers. CEO Carsten Spohr confirmed in an interview one year ago that the toilet is for passengers, but he has utterly failed to make pilots and cabin crews comply with this.
Kudos to KLM for mastering Apology 101. But there is a whiff of non-apology in the words "absolutely was not their intention" and the age-old apology destroyer "I apologize if you were offended".
Visually it was brilliant, with the bowing and the ballroom. Their Seoul PR consultants mostly earned their fee.