Paris, Aug 6 (PTI) : A Pakistani-American couple was allegedly asked to get off a US-bound flight when an on board crew member felt "uncomfortable" after noticing that they were "sweating", saying "Allah" and texting.
Nazia and Faisal Ali have leveled allegations of Islamophobia against Delta Airlines for throwing them off their flight from Paris to Cincinnati, Ohio.
Nazia, 34, claims that she was innocuously going about her business when they were singled out. She had removed her sneakers, sent a text message to her parents and was putting on headphones to set herself up for the nine-hour flight, when a Delta Air Lines crew member came up to her and her husband, Faisal.
A flight crew member had complained to the pilot that she was uncomfortable with the Muslim couple, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported. The reason she gave for her discomfort was that the woman was wearing a head scarf and using a phone, and the man was sweating.
The flight attendant allegedly also told the pilot that Faisal tried to hide his cell phone and that she had heard the couple use the word 'Allah'.
The pilot contacted the ground crew and would not take off until couple was removed.
Recounting her ordeal at the Cincinnati area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Nazia said, "We had been in our seats for 45 minutes".
Having construed their actions as suspicious, the ground agent asked them to exit the aircraft. "The ground agent said, 'Can you step out with me? We'd like to ask you a few questions.' So I said, 'Do you want us to get our things?' And he said, 'Yes, please grab all of your personal belongings. You're not going to be on this flight'," Nazia gave an account of the July 26 incident.
They were then interrogated by a French police officer about their stay in Paris, where they had gone for a brief holiday to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary, according to media reports.
After the interrogation, the officer said he had no problem with them and that there was nothing else he could ask the couple.
COMPLAINT AGAINST DELTA
In the wake of the discrimination against the couple, the Muslim advocacy group has filed a religious profiling complaint against Delta Air Lines to the US Department of Transportation
"We call on the US Department of Transportation to conduct a thorough examination into the prevailing practices of major American air carriers, including Delta Air Lines, and to develop policy guidelines on the objective factors that are to be considered when determining that a passenger may legally be removed from a flight," CAIR-Cincinnati attorney Sana Hassan said.
The Delta Air Lines responded to allegations of prejudice with a statement saying, "Delta condemns discrimination toward our customers in regards to age, race, nationality, religion, sexual orientation or gender."
"As a global airline that brings hundreds of thousands of people together every day, Delta is deeply committed to treating all of our customers with respect. Delta continues its investigation into this matter and will issue a full refund of these customers' airfare," it said.