Two passengers taken off SIA flight after one ‘verbally and physically’ abuses cabin crew

Singapore Airlines (SIA) said its staff have the right to a safe work environment, after an incident where a passenger “verbally and physically abused” cabin crew on board its plane on Feb 6. In response to The Straits Times’ queries, an SIA spokesperson said the incident with the abusive passenger – whose details, including gender, the national carrier did not reveal, citing customer confidentiality – took place on board Flight SQ826. The flight was scheduled to depart Singapore for Shanghai at 1.15am, and the plane was taxiing for take-off at the time. After assessing the situation, the pilots decided to return to the gate to “offload” the passenger and their companion to ensure the safety of others on board, the spokesperson said. The two were handed over to the local authorities at Changi Airport. Said the spokesperson: “SIA believes that all our employees have a right to a safe and respectful workplace environment. We do not tolerate any form of unruly or abusive behaviour, whether on the ground or in the air.” As a result of the incident, the flight was delayed by 1 hour and 46 minutes, and departed Singapore only at 3.01am. SIA said the safety of its customers and staff is its top priority, and apologised to customers on board the flight for the inconvenience caused by the incident.<br/>