Airline Offers Apology Over Detained Muslim Passengers

[oberliner]

Source: Washington Post

AirTran Airways has issued a public apology and provided free return airfare to nine Muslim passengers who were forced off an AirTran flight to Orlando at Reagan National Airport yesterday after two other passengers overheard what they construed as threatening remarks.

AirTran spokesman Tad Hutcheson said the company had also agreed to refund the travelers the cost of their tickets on another carrier after AirTran refused to rebook them.

"We regret that the issue escalated to the heightened security level it did on New Year's Day, but we trust everyone understands that the security and the safety of our passengers is paramount and cannot be compromised," read a company statement. "We apologize to all of the passengers -- to the nine who had to undergo extensive interviews from the authorities and to the 95 who ultimately made the flight. Nobody on Flight 175 reached their destination on time on New Year's Day, and we regret it."

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/02/AR2009010201695.html

[babylonsister]

1. Was this before or after the lawsuit against them was announced? nt

[SemiCharmedQuark]

2. So do two people have the power to kick any group they wish off of an airplane?

Just by arguing they heard suspicious things?

[babylonsister]

5. I personally don't think so. And why did the airline listen to these people?

Who accounted for their sanity?

[Soylent Brice]

9. airline philosophy:

shoot first, ask questions after civil lawsuit.

never mind that an ever increasing portion of americans each year are being prescribed meds for anxiety and depression - most of which lead to paranoia...

this whole country has PTSD.

[Xipe Totec]

8. Only if there's other causes of suspicion, like skin color or odd clothing n/t

[wndycty]

3. "Nobody on Flight 175 reached their destination on time on New Year's Day, and we regret it."

Yeah but the those who did get to ride on flight #175 weren't humiliated like the folks kicked off the plane.

[ogneopasno]

4. They did the right thing...eventually. Maybe they'll do it right the first time next time.

However, I doubt it.

[Poll_Blind]

6. Somehow I think they probably don't want to fly AirTran back. The lawsuit is going to...

....cost AirTran something fierce, especially when they refused to listen to the goddamned FBI who were apparently trying to resolve the issue.

PB

[parasim]

7. what, did somebody there finally see the movie...

Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay and realize how stupid they are?

[bertman]

10. Americans, so scared and witless that any comment from a furrin-lookin person sets

off their terrorist alarms.

Thank you, neo-con scum and corporate media for turning us into frightened sheeple.

[Vinca]

11. But if you stop and think about their comment, it makes no sense

that it could be interpreted as if they were going to do something to the plane. If they were planning an attack, there would be no safe part of the aircraft. Idiotic. Probably an 18 per center (Bush lover).

[cboy4]

12. The important part remains:

"... but we trust everyone understands that the security and the safety of our passengers is paramount and cannot be compromised."

[mbperrin]

29. Safety is why I have never flown since Reagan fired the air traffic controllers.

And I'll never fly again. A bankrupt airline can afford proper maintenance? A union-busting industry can afford the finest pilots and maintenance?

Nope.

No flying at all. I really hate that my taxes pay part of airports' expenses, even.

[LisaM]

13. Actually, after reading the whole article

I think I might have wondered about comments like that, too. I certainly don't talk about the safest place to sit if the engine explodes when I get on board a plane. It seems like an odd thing to do.

I agree that the other passengers were profiling the family, and that's wrong, but the conversation does seem a bit strange.

My mother always thinks it would be funny to make jokes about bombs when going through airline security and the rest of us have to assure her that it's not funny at all.

[bertman]

14. I thought they said they said it would be unsafe in the event of an ACCIDENT. It was

supposedly the fearful passenger(s) who thought it meant EXPLOSION.

If they actually used the word "explosion" that was truly a bad choice of terms and pretty stupid, if you ask me.

[LisaM]

17. The accounts vary a little

though I don't know if I would notice the difference if someone said accident or explosion if they were talking about the plane blowing up! I don't care what they looked like. They were also ON THE PLANE when they said this. Yes, they were likely wrongly profiled, but it's not, as they aver, a conversation anyone might have when boarding a plane.


"Officials said several other passengers overheard the conversation and became alarmed when they heard Sahin remark that sitting near the engines would not be safe in the event of an accident or explosion. Irfan and Izaz said the remark was entirely misconstrued and that the conversation was nothing more than innocuous banter.

"The conversation we were having was the conversation anyone would have," Irfan said of his sister-in-law in a telephone interview from Florida today. "She did not use the word bomb, she did not use the word explosion. She said it would not be safe to sit next to the engines in the event of an accident". "

[TheEuclideanOne]

16. The airline did the right thing.

Well, maybe erring on the side of caution, but we live in an age where you don't have that type of conversation right before a flight. Sad to say, that is just the way it is. If I was on the plane and joked about having a bomb, but maybe didn't say the word exactly, I would be at fault if I got kicked off a flight. That is simply not normal conversation in today's age. Sorry.

Here is are some simple guidelines to follow RIGHT BEFORE YOUR FLIGHT..... Don't talk about the plane that you are boarding blowing up.... don't make jokes about bombs... don't make jokes about the somehow crashing into the ocean..... don't talk about whether you think you are tough enough to overpower the pilot. Follow these whether you are Muslim or not. Don't be an idiot. Don't assume that people are no longer vigilant on planes. If you are Muslim, you should be aware of your surroundings. What, did these people not watch the news for the last 10 years? If you are a Muslim or even dresss like one, you are just asking for trouble and deserve what you get. Yes, things would have been different 10 years ago, but this is not 10 years ago.

I was watching a cool show that discussed whether you would actually get sucked out of a plane if a bomb blew a whole in it. Would I discuss it with my friends, yes, would I discuss it while I was waiting for a flight, hell no.

[bluedeminredstate]

18. Huh?

"What, did these people not watch the news for the last 10 years? If you are a Muslim or even dresss like one, you are just asking for trouble and deserve what you get. Yes, things would have been different 10 years ago, but this is not 10 years ago."

Did you really mean to say this? If you're a Muslim in America somehow that is asking for harassment?

[bertman]

19. No, I think TEO meant to say "if you're a Muslim in America and you look like a Muslim

and you're boarding a plane, it might be smart to NOT discuss explosions or accidents or other "unfortunate things" like that. This has nothing to do with harassment and everything to do with the state of fear people are living in now. It sucks, but it's the reality and anyone who ignores it is going to pay the price. Another sad sign of the times.

[TheEuclideanOne]

23. Yes, that is really what I was trying to say, it just did not come out quite right.

I added another post trying to clarify it a bit. Thanks for the post.

[TheEuclideanOne]

22. Let me rephrase part of that.

I should not have said that "You deserve what you get", but instead, "You should not be surprised if you are treated unfairly." Actually, the more that I read that, I regret writing it. They definitely don't deserve what they got, they were simply trying to enjoy the holiday like the rest of us.

If I can try to rephrase my point a little bit more.... The point that I was trying to make is if you have watched the news since 911, it is pretty clear that when people see a Muslim today, especially in an airport, they still have the visions of all of the 911 suspects in their mind. Sorry, reality break. Even if not everybody on the flight has that mindset, you can be assured that some will. We don't live in a perfect world and people are still subconciously conditioned to relate the visions of the 911 suspects to basically amybody from the middle east. It will still take years to change that.

[bluedeminredstate]

26. OK

I get what you're saying. I just was kind of shocked by the blanket statement. Thanks for clarifying your post.

:hi:

[McCamy Taylor]

20. "If you are a Muslim..." you have the same rights everyone else has. Read the Constitution.

Get a life. Get a clue. Read the OP. The Free Republic would love your attitude.

[GReedDiamond]

30. The FEAR has been mightily instilled. The quivering cowardice...

...and outright bigotry that underlies a statement like this:

If you are a Muslim or even dresss like one, you are just asking for trouble and deserve what you get,

is absolutely appalling. I find it difficult to believe I am reading such pathetic drivel on a "progressive" web site.

I was taught to always "Question Authority" and to stand up to Authority by the time (if not sooner) Authority started growling, salivating and foaming at the mouth like a rabid street dog.

Dangerous? Possibly. But ultimately less dangerous (and less damaging) than letting the mad dog to continue to run amok.

FUCK THE AMERIKKKAN CORPORATE POLICE STATE!

[TheEuclideanOne]

34. Well if you read some of the other posts, you will see that I have clarified

what I meant to say. You are also taking that one quote out of context to make you point. So get off of your high horse.

But let me throw it back at you. In your world, would all things be equal the day after 9-11? Two Days? One Month? What I am pointing out is not what is right or wrong, but how people behave, whether you like it or not.

It reminds me of when my friend from Italy was down and answered "Yes I have a bomb" when the clerk asked him if he was carrying a bomb. He was clearly joking because of the absurdity of the question, but if that happened the day after 9-11, he would be thrown in prison, not just off of the plane.

[GReedDiamond]

35. Yes, I saw that...

...after the fact.

Unfortunately, I cannot imagine making that kind of comment to begin with, because it really was overtly bigoted.

However, I'm always willing to give the benefit of the doubt, so I know you didn't mean it the way you wrote it.

But who gives a shit what I think, anyway?

So, Happy New Year and Best Wishes, and always remember, as Ari Fleischer once said:

...all Americans...need to watch what they say, watch what they do.
September 20, 2001, in response to comments by comedian Bill Maher.

(edited for clarity/emphasis)

[cboy4]

37. Oh please. Give it a rest with your lame Ari Fleischer quotes.

You're so mentally disorganized, you have no idea how to use them in context.

No offense, of course.

[GReedDiamond]

38. Mentally disorganized?

I'm mentally disorganized?

I am not the one who has had to retract numerous bigoted statements, apparently made in haste without the proper forethought and "mental organization."

You know the ones I'm referring to, those "you get what you deserve if you're a Muslim wearing funny clothes" type statements. Those comments were posted in haste, were they not? Or are you now standing by your obvious bigotry for all things Muslim and funny lookin'?

Make up your mind, genius.

No offense, just trying to help you organize your thoughts.

[cboy4]

41. I haven't retracted anything and in fact, refuse to do such a

thing because I'm perfectly happy with my analysis and viewpoint.

Maybe you're the one who needs to expand your narrow minded disorganized brain?

[TheEuclideanOne]

42. I think that you are confusing cboy4's comments for mine

In reading through the thread, it appears that you are thinking that the cboy4 made the comments that I made. I am the one who made the "you get what you deserve" comment originally.

[Posteritatis]

39. You think people "deserve what they get" if they're Muslim? (nt)

[damntexdem]

15. "We trust everyone understands that the paranoia of our passengers is paramount"

nuff said

[McCamy Taylor]

21. Paranoid passengers need to be offered seats on the next flight.

That will shut most of them up.

[Gwendolyn]

27. Your anger should be directed at the air marshals, since they were responsible...

...for the way this situation played out.

There will always be paranoid, nosy people and there's no reason to shut them up. Not often, but occasionally they do a service.

[bertman]

24. When I first read about this my reaction, as I posted earlier, was that we are so scared

and witless that we take any comment from a foreign-looking person as a potential threat.

Now, as I read the posts and think more carefully about this I am taking a less critical stance regarding the passengers on the flight who were alarmed by what they heard. Here's why.

In the last week, we have witnessed the buildup of tensions between India and Pakistan, the bombing of Gaza by Israel and a pre-invasion military buildup, the Tamil rebels are being overrun by the SriLankan government forces.

There is a HUGE AMOUNT of anger among people whose countries and citizens are being slaughtered for what I see as differences in cultural and religious beliefs. That anger is certainly justifiable if your group is receiving the brunt of the mayhem.

We have seen time and again that the people who feel they have no other recourse will attempt to incite fear and terror in their oppressors by the use of suicide bombing/terror tactics. In this case, the U.S. can easily be described as being aligned with one or more of the aggressor forces I have mentioned--and they are only three of many.

We are about to have a new President inaugurated. The guard is changing. What better time for a terror attack than now?

I'm sure that our security forces are on full alert here and all over the world. President-elect Obama has already told us that his transition team is keenly focused on making sure that they do not allow this time of transition to become a window of opportunity for those who would like to demonstrate to us that they can hurt us, just as we hurt them.

Not a pretty picture, but I think it is realistic.

[EFerrari]

25. The airline refused to fly them even after the FBI cleared them. n/t

[oberliner]

28. The airline claims they were not aware that the FBI had cleared them nt

[liberal N proud]

31. What about the alleged passengers who were afraid of these people?

Where are they now and shouldn't they be included in a law suit and an apology?

Did they really hear these people talking or was it just something they made up because they didn't like muslim people?

[oberliner]

32. I think they were minors

A few sources noted that they were teenage girls.

Here is one example from the NY Times:

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/02/muslim-family-excluded-from-airtran-flight/

[rsmith6621]

33. I Support Air Tran's Decession

If you get on a flight,train or bus and make anyone feel uncomfortable in a way that feels threatening YES you should be removed....the last thing you want to have happen at 35000 feet is some conflict or all out riot.

In my day to day duties for my airline the last thing I want to have happen is a diversion, not only does it make more work for me it disrupts the travel of the rest of the passengers and thousands of dollars of added cost. Ultimately the choice was the Captain and apparently he did not feel comfortable flying with the possibility of a conflict and the potential of having to declare an emergency which for him and the crew amounts to a heck of a lot of paperwork....

It is unfortunate they were Muslim the same would have happened if they were Caucasian,Asian or African American.

[Diana Prince]

36. I would guess that if they were caucasian no one would have said a word

I believe the only reason they were targeted is because of skin color and dress.

[pink-o]

40. You are abso-f**kin'-lutely right!!!

I work for an airline as well, and right after 911 I was called to settle a "dispute" someone had over another passenger who happened to be a Sikh Indian. I told the originator that if she was not comfortable on the flight, I would get her luggage back and she could book for a later flight on us or get a refund to use for another airline.

The man she was so fucking scared of had done nothing other than sit in his seat and read a book in his own language--but this dumbass small-town chick figured he was Osama 2.0--not even understanding the differences in culture.

We as airlines should never enable ignorance like that! Air Tran made the wrong decision, and I hope they pay BIG for it.