Airline under fire after mistakenly serving white wine to 3-year-old in business class

A flight attendant with Cathay Pacific Airways reportedly served a glass of white wine to a three-year-old boy in business class, according to the child’s mother, who has demanded a clear explanation and assurance the incident will not be repeated, reported the South China Morning Post.

The child’s mother, identified only by her surname Wong, took to Chinese social media platform RedNote to share the incident, which occurred on a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to London on April 24. She later spoke to the South China Morning Post, expressing concern about the potential health risks of her son consuming alcohol.

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“Although Cathay has apologised to us about the mistake, it never gave us a proper account of the incident, nor did it show us how it will prevent it from happening again,” Wong said. “During the whole process, there was a lack of care for my son. They gave me the impression that they were trying to shirk responsibility.”

Wong and her husband, both 35, have not taken their son for a medical check-up yet, but she said he has shown no signs of discomfort. Despite this, she remains worried about the long-term impact of alcohol on a young child. “We understand that alcohol consumption in young children can have delayed neurological, developmental and physiological impacts that may not manifest immediately,” she said. “We are in the process of arranging comprehensive medical assessments with paediatric specialists.”

Cathay Pacific responded by offering a refund for the child’s ticket, three upgrade vouchers for one-class upgrades, and to cover the cost of any related medical check-ups. The estimated refund and compensation value is approximately ₹75,000 to ₹85,000.

Airline responds

The airline confirmed the mistake and said it had taken steps to address the situation. “We take this matter very seriously and have launched an internal review to ensure appropriate follow-up actions are implemented and goodwill is being offered. We will continue to support and assist the family,” a spokesperson said.

According to Cathay, the crew acted out of caution by paging onboard medical personnel and contacting an independent medical agency. “Throughout the flight, our cabin crew regularly monitored the child’s condition. The customers disembarked the flight as normal,” the spokesperson added.

Wong recounted the series of events during dinner service, saying her son was first given chicken and water. A glass of clear liquid was placed beside him, which was assumed to be water. Her husband returned to his seat after cutting the chicken for their son. A while later, the boy asked for more water, saying the previous drink tasted sour. When the parents tasted it, they realised it was white wine.

She immediately alerted a flight attendant, who simply apologised, removed the glass, and replaced it with water. Dissatisfied with the response, Wong called a senior crew member, who then filed a complaint and contacted Medlink, an in-flight medical advisory service.

A French doctor onboard examined the boy and assured Wong that he would be fine. “Children as young as five could take alcohol in his country,” he reportedly told her. Wong added that the crew relayed this to Medlink, which offered no additional advice except to give the child water and watch for symptoms such as nausea or fever.

In a follow-up email to the family on April 26, Cathay said it had provided immediate coaching to cabin crew to ensure drink orders are double-checked. “The flight’s pilot was made aware of the situation during the flight, and appropriate internal measures are being taken,” the email stated.

A Cathay flight purser, speaking anonymously, claimed this incident was reflective of a broader decline in service standards due to rushed hiring and inadequate training. “This isn’t a single incident and should serve as a wake-up call for Cathay … inexperienced cabin crew have committed many incomprehensible, silly mistakes which did not make sense,” the purser said.

The purser revealed that in such cases, crew are expected to mark napkins to ensure correct drink delivery to children, but that this protocol is often ignored now. “The training is very inadequate for new joiners and fails to cover many scenarios. For example, in the past, the training for a purser was at least a few weeks, but nowadays, it has been shortened to six days,” she said.

The purser also pointed out that parents have a role to play in monitoring what is served to their children, especially during flights.