Woman travelling on a China Southern Airlines flight from Nanning to Harbin had refused to take her bare feet off the tray table despite repeated requests from flight attendants. Photo / Weibo
A woman travelling on a domestic plane in China had refused to take her bare feet off the tray table despite repeated requests from flight attendants.
The woman and another female passenger were travelling on a China Southern Airlines flight from Nanning to Harbin on Sunday when they decided to rest their feet on the tables, to the disgust of their fellow passengers, according to the Daily Mail.
A man who filmed the incident said they argued with other travellers and the cabin crew, claiming that they could not put their legs down because they "had injured their feet during ballet practice".
Net user Haidelan_BH posted a video showing the woman sitting next to the aisle sleeping while resting her bare feet on the table, while the woman in the middle seat was seen putting up her socked feet as well.
"After the people in front of the two aunties complained, they had the audacity to put their feet on their armrests!" the man said in his Weibo post on Monday.
He added that flight attendants had tried to offer them to different seats but they refused, saying they could not move and must put their feet up as they had injured themselves during ballet practice.
"They even accused other passengers of lacking empathy and compassion!" he said, while other passengers continued to get whiffs of their stinky feet.
"The plane is a public place, you can't do whatever you want and cause suffering to other people," the man added.
China Southern Airlines told Beijing Youth Daily that the company is investigating the incident.
The video of the incident went viral on Weibo, where net users slammed the 'uncivilised' women.
"I feel so embarrassed for the two women!" Zhangyian said.
"I can smell their stinky feet through the screen!" Yunshangmulan said.
"They should be blacklisted from flying!" Liyaling said. "The table is for placing food and drinks, not your feet!"
There were calls for the two women to be punished by lowering their scores on the social credit system.
The nationwide credit system, implemented in 2014, keeps a running score based on Chinese people's day to day behaviour. Those with poor credit are penalised, including being banned from borrowing loans, purchasing real estate and travelling on flights.
As of April this year, a total of 11.14 million Chinese people have been blacklisted from buying flight tickets and 4.25 million have been banned from buying high-speed train tickets - instead they would have to opt for the slow trains.