Flight attendants served a three-year-old boy sitting in business class wine instead of water on Cathay Pacific flight 255 from Hong Kong to London a couple of weeks ago. The child’s mother complained online after she found the airline’s response insufficient, and sharing concerns about her child’s long-term health from drinking alcohol so young. But the boy took only one sip, complaining to his mother that it was “too sour.”
His mom tasted the drink, realized it was wine, and flag down cabin crew – who immediately apologized, took the glass and brought back actual water. The woman escalated this to the purser, and the cockpit got Medlink involved for advice. They also sought passengers onboard with medical training, and a French doctor consulted – who said, look, five year old kids in France drink all the time and one sip is no big deal.
The boy has shown no immediate symptoms, but Wong and her husband are currently arranging comprehensive medical assessments with pediatric specialists seeking one who will support a claim for delayed neurological, developmental, and physiological effects.
Credit: Mother’s Post on RedNote
After the flight Cathay Pacific apologized and offered:
- a refund of the child’s ticket
- three upgrade vouchers to move to first class
- reimbursement for medical treatment
They also insist that they’re reinforcing crew training to prevent similar incidents in the future. However the mother is still not satisfied, claiming that the carrier should provide more of an explanation for how such a mistake happened (‘the flight attendant made a mistake’?) and accuses them of attempting to avoid responsibility. She feels that:
- the flight attendant should be following up directly to apologize
- the airline should provide concrete proof that new safeguards have been implemented
Credit: Mother’s Post on RedNote
As a result, she has filed formal complaints with Hong Kong’s Civil Aviation Department, the Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office, the Consumer Council, and the UK Civil Aviation Authority.
Meanwhile, cabin crew forums discussing the issue argue that declining service standards and insufficient training for new flight attendants rapidly hired to support the carrier’s expansion are likely to blame. In this case, properly-trained crew might have marked the beverage to avoid delivering the wrong drink to the wrong passenger.
Bloody hell, overreact much? Taking the kid to doctors (after asking an on-board doctor if it’s a problem, and they pointed out French kids drink wine at 5… LOL) and etc. over one sip of wine?
I’m just not sure if they’re looking for a payday (most likely) or if they’re one of those ridiculously paranoid parents. But sheesh… I feel bad for the kid if the mom’s going to overreact like this either way.
Well, I think the mother should be partially responsible for this. I have a young toddler. I always watch what people serve him. They’ll hand the food to me and I’ll double check before I pass it on to my boy.
I think the mom is very non-attentive with her child And maybe it’s the first time she flew business and she’s overwhelmed and keep taking selfies and forgot about her child she’s making a real big deal out of this. She and her family has already been compensated for the stewardess mistake and by the way, everybody makes mistakes it
Happens and give the stewardess a break, man.
And it’s a sip and the child split it out. So 1/4 of a sip ?
And no doubt the parents give him candy and sodas all the time.
OMG. The kid is 100% fine, and the mother is looking for a huge cash payout. Cathay Pacific is scared of bad publicity and being sued; they’ve already done too much and inso doing, has encouraged the mother rather than satisfied her. This is NOT the same as driving through McDonald’s, then spilling your onto your lap and getting burned (and that was another ridiculous payout).
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@hwertz —> I agree. That poor kid…
Of course they are looking for the golden egg. Please GET over it!
Airline should withdraw settlement offer as improvidently offered and tell parents to pound sand.
As an attorney, I’m embarrassed for the culture of unearned paydays for minor mistakes with no injuries of any kind. The kid gets more alcohol or depresants in kids’ cough syrup. Horrible parenting, setting this kind of moral example.
I say this as a lifelong teetotaler: This. Is. Freakin’. Ridiculous.
Please, Cathay Pacific, tell them to pound sand.
To me this seems to be a money grab. I had friends who started giving sips of beer to their kids at three. They were American of German descent and it was a cultural thing. The kids turned out ok. Some liquid medicines have a high alcohol content as does some mouthwash. Some foods also have a high alcohol content.
Her kid is just gonna grow up to be glued to TikTok on a phone, anyway. Which is BEYOND brain-damaging.
It was a common practice to give babies small amounts of alcohol, particularly in the Victorian era (1837-1901). Reasons for this included:
–Soothing colic and teething pain: Alcohol was believed to have sedative and analgesic effects that could soothe babies.
–Promoting sleep: Alcohol was thought to make babies drowsy and help them sleep longer.
–Treating digestive problems: Alcohol was used as a digestive aid for babies with diarrhea or vomiting.
Here are a few examples of alcohol content in cough syrups:
Vicks V44 Cough Syrup: 10% ABV
Robitussin DM: 3.5% ABV
Nyquil: 25% ABV
Sudafed with Guaifenesin: 2.4% ABV
I hope the Mom not only loses her suit, but goes broke paying her ambulance-chasing lawyers.
Anyone sincerely concerned about this child’s welfare should get then away from this mother ASAP.