BEIJING, China – Photos showing Chinese flight attendants stuffed into an airplane’s luggage compartment by security officers has sparked widespread condemnation, media reports said on Tuesday.
The photos were posted online from a personal account of Weibo account, China’s twitter-like social networking platform, People’s Daily reported. The flight attendants were from Yunnan province-based domestic carrier, Kunming Airlines.
The post said attendants were forced to be carried into the luggage rack by the security officer of the airplane. The practice, which was called a tradition by the officers, has been conducted for four or five years. These flight attendants were reluctant to do it but still lifted to the rack due to the concerns of being not cooperative with their colleagues.
“This was like a ceremony for the new attendants to join the crew team. It is prevalent among other foreign airlines too,” a sources said.