• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

2 Muslim women ordered off American Airlines flight

Status
Not open for further replies.
R

RBH

Member
Two Muslim American women were ordered off an American Airlines plane in Miami this week after a flight attendant said that overhearing them talking with other passengers about the lack of food and water on the flight made him uncomfortable, one of the women said.

Niala Khalil, a Voice of America journalist, said on her Facebook page Wednesday that she and her traveling companion were met on the ramp at Miami International Airport by armed air marshals and Miami-Dade police officers.

But an American Airlines spokeswoman said that the two were removed for “noncompliance” and disputed some of the details of Ms. Khalil’s account. She also denied that religion factored into the airline’s decision.

Ms. Khalil said that the incident took place on Aug. 2 when she and her friend, a federal government worker she did not identify, boarded Flight 2239 to Washington. The flight was delayed by crew changes, a maintenance issue and bad weather, she wrote.
Click to expand...

After five hours on the tarmac, during which passengers were given water and pretzels, a white male passenger behind the women initiated a conversation with Ms. Khalil’s friend “about the lack of customer care,” she wrote.

“Suddenly, a male flight attendant walking by singled out my friend and stated, ‘If you have a problem, you can get off the plane.’ My friend replied, ‘I have no problem — I am simply stating facts. We were given one glass of water in five hours,’ ” Ms. Khalil wrote.

“The attendant responded by once again threatening my friend, ‘Well, I can have you removed for instigating other passengers,’ ” the attendant said, according to Ms. Khalil.

The flight attendant was not wearing a name badge, so Ms. Khalil’s friend took his photograph to ask another crew member to help identify him. But a third flight attendant told them that the picture was a “federal offense,” Ms. Khalil said. They were asked to delete the photograph, and did, she added.

Ten minutes later, the women were told to take their belongings to the front of the aircraft, where they were informed that they were being removed because the male flight attendant “felt threatened,” Ms. Khalil wrote, quoting a customer service representative.

“However, the white male passenger my friend was speaking to was ironically not removed from the plane with us,” she wrote.

An American Airlines spokeswoman, Alexis Aran Coello, said on Friday that the order to remove the women was in line with the airline’s “noncompliance” policy, which, in this case, was related to their being asked to stop taking the photograph of the flight attendant.

But Ms. Aran Coello said the crew member had misspoken in saying that it was a federal offense to take the picture. She said the episode took place when the flight attendants and passengers were coping with a long delay.

“It got a little heated,” she added. “Passengers were getting restless, and they started taking it out on the flight attendants.” However, Ms. Aran Coello said, “Religion never, ever came up getting them off the plane.”
Click to expand...

Ms. Khalil’s account reflects the difficulties religious and racial minorities — including Muslims, Sikhs and African-Americans — have described while traveling, coming under extra scrutiny or suspicion because of their skin color or attire.

In February, a Sikh American actor, Waris Ahluwalia, was blocked from boarding a flight in Mexico City because he declined to remove his turban during a security check. He eventually flew home to the United States after a two-day standoff with Aeroméxico.

In May, an Italian economist from the University of Pennsylvania was removed from an American Airlines flight in Philadelphia after his seatmate became alarmed, thinking that the math he was scribbling on a piece of paper was Arabic, The Washington Post reported.

And on Friday, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported, an American Muslim couple were taken off a Delta Air Lines flight in Paris on their way to Ohio after a flight attendant said the man, Faisal Ali, was sweating and had tried to hide his cellphone. She also became worried after hearing the couple say “Allah,” the Arabic for God.

They were questioned by French officials, put up in a hotel and flown out the next day, the newspaper reported. Delta said in a statement that it condemns discrimination and was investigating.

Ms. Khalil’s account was shared widely on social media, where she published a photograph of her and her friend posing with law enforcement officials after leaving the plane. She said the officials used “good humor in de-escalating the situation.”

On Friday, some readers of Ms. Khalil’s account added to the hashtag #flyingwhilemuslim to share their own stories.

Ms. Khalil said she and her friend were given $200 travel credits and money for meals, and were booked on another flight. They arrived in Washington the next morning, missing work, she wrote.
Click to expand...
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/06/u...rdered-off-american-airlines-flight.html?_r=0



Co8e5UcWEAEx7gU.jpg


https://twitter.com/nialakhalil/status/760860838106394625
 
Grizzlyjin

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
Instigating other passengers? Lol, did they think there was going to be an in-flight mutiny?
 
R

Rymuth

Member
In May, an Italian economist from the University of Pennsylvania was removed from an American Airlines flight in Philadelphia after his seatmate became alarmed, thinking that the math he was scribbling on a piece of paper was Arabic, The Washington Post reported.
Click to expand...
Oh, for fuck's sake!!
 
nekkid

nekkid

It doesn't matter who we are, what matters is our plan.
To paraphrase a post on my wife's Facebook feed: Most terrorists are men, so let's stigmatise men.
 
S

Syncytia

Member
Five hours on the tarmac?

I was stuck on the tarmac for two hours once and I was about to lose my shit. I couldn't imagine five hours and not getting water or anything.

Getting heated just thinking about it right now.
 
J

Jeels

Member
Unlike some other recent incidents, this one is a little harder to say it's racially motivated. (other than the bit about the white passenger not being asked off). It just sounds like American Airlines being shitty/unfair flight crew.

The dude should def get punished for lying...
 
G

Garlador

Member
Not that Muslims don't face a huge issue of prejudice at airports...

... But I've experienced this stuff myself and I'm white. On my honeymoon just a month ago, I asked a passenger if he wouldn't mind switching seats with me so I could sit next to my wife - who has a phobia of flying - for the trip to Italy and be next to her.

The flight attendant stopped by, began yelling at me "SIR! You are disrupting the plane and causing a commotion! Sit down IMMEDIATELY!" I hadn't raised my voice. I was very calm. I tried to explain the situation to her and she interrupts, "I will have your removed if you don't comply!" My wife broke down in tears and I didn't want to get us both tossed off on our honeymoon, so I reluctantly took to my seat.

As the attendant walked past us, she turns to another attendant and says "You handle this one. He's a problem passenger. I can't deal with him," just loud enough for me and others to hear.

...
... Thankfully, my father was our pilot on the flight back. It was much more enjoyable.

But, yeah, these things happen, regardless of gender, age, religion, skin color. Doesn't excuse it, of course. I was livid about the whole thing for days (still am thinking about it).
 
D

DrunkShogun

Member
People are discriminating as they always have. I can only say I'm glad that these cases are picking up because it might not change the perception of people but it might at least stop them acting out on discriminating people out of fear of being exposed.
 
C

ColdPizza

Banned
Garlador said:
Not that Muslims don't face a huge issue of prejudice at airports...

... But I've experienced this stuff myself and I'm white. On my honeymoon just a month ago, I asked a passenger if he wouldn't mind switching seats with me so I could sit next to my wife - who has a phobia of flying - for the trip to Italy and be next to her.

The flight attendant stopped by, began yelling at me "SIR! You are disrupting the plane and causing a commotion! Sit down IMMEDIATELY!" I hadn't raised my voice. I was very calm. I tried to explain the situation to her and she interrupts, "I will have your removed if you don't comply!" My wife broke down in tears and I didn't want to get us both tossed off on our honeymoon, so I reluctantly took to my seat.

As the attendant walked past us, she turns to another attendant and says "You handle this one. He's a problem passenger. I can't deal with him," just loud enough for me and others to hear.

...
... Thankfully, my father was our pilot on the flight back. It was much more enjoyable.

But, yeah, these things happen, regardless of gender, age, religion, skin color. Doesn't excuse it, of course. I was livid about the whole thing for days (still am thinking about it).
Click to expand...

What the fuck? I would have complained about her to the airline. You got Adam Sandler'd from Anger Management
 
M

Modoru

Member
Garlador said:
Not that Muslims don't face a huge issue of prejudice at airports...

... But I've experienced this stuff myself and I'm white. On my honeymoon just a month ago, I asked a passenger if he wouldn't mind switching seats with me so I could sit next to my wife - who has a phobia of flying - for the trip to Italy and be next to her.

The flight attendant stopped by, began yelling at me "SIR! You are disrupting the plane and causing a commotion! Sit down IMMEDIATELY!" I hadn't raised my voice. I was very calm. I tried to explain the situation to her and she interrupts, "I will have your removed if you don't comply!" My wife broke down in tears and I didn't want to get us both tossed off on our honeymoon, so I reluctantly took to my seat.

As the attendant walked past us, she turns to another attendant and says "You handle this one. He's a problem passenger. I can't deal with him," just loud enough for me and others to hear.

...
... Thankfully, my father was our pilot on the flight back. It was much more enjoyable.

But, yeah, these things happen, regardless of gender, age, religion, skin color. Doesn't excuse it, of course. I was livid about the whole thing for days (still am thinking about it).
Click to expand...

That is extremely shitty, wow.
 
S

Slurpy2k20

Member
Half an hour on the tarmac is fucking torture, 5 hrs is insane. If there's gonna be that much of a delay, just unload the damn passengers until you're ready to go. I hate to stay in an airplane an extra minute than what's required, I feel so claustrophobic.

Oh, and that flight attendant sounds like a piece of shit.
 
R

RBH

Member
Garlador said:
Not that Muslims don't face a huge issue of prejudice at airports...

... But I've experienced this stuff myself and I'm white. On my honeymoon just a month ago, I asked a passenger if he wouldn't mind switching seats with me so I could sit next to my wife - who has a phobia of flying - for the trip to Italy and be next to her.

The flight attendant stopped by, began yelling at me "SIR! You are disrupting the plane and causing a commotion! Sit down IMMEDIATELY!" I hadn't raised my voice. I was very calm. I tried to explain the situation to her and she interrupts, "I will have your removed if you don't comply!" My wife broke down in tears and I didn't want to get us both tossed off on our honeymoon, so I reluctantly took to my seat.

As the attendant walked past us, she turns to another attendant and says "You handle this one. He's a problem passenger. I can't deal with him," just loud enough for me and others to hear.

...
... Thankfully, my father was our pilot on the flight back. It was much more enjoyable.

But, yeah, these things happen, regardless of gender, age, religion, skin color. Doesn't excuse it, of course. I was livid about the whole thing for days (still am thinking about it).
Click to expand...

Which airline was it?

Should've filed a complaint after something like that.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Obese tourist who forced stewardess to wipe his butt dies on vacation
2
88
7K
Big Baller replied
What actually happened to Warren Ellis?
14
2K
CGNoire replied
Woman Allegedly Breastfeeds Cat on Delta Airlines Flight
2
59
6K
GymWolf replied
The Britney Spears meltdown and conservatorship saga.
2
87
9K
Syphon Filter replied
A True Saint: Betty White secretly paid to evacuate animals from New Orleans aquarium after Hurricane Katrina
15
2K
Gonpachiro Kamaboko replied
Top Bottom