Posted on 01/18/2007 4:54:54 AM PST by jmaroneps37
DETROIT (Reuters) - Northwest Airlines apologized on Wednesday to 40 American Muslims who were barred from a recent flight to Detroit, but denied it discriminated against the group, which was returning from a Hajj pilgrimage.
Northwest said the pilgrims failed to check in one hour before their transatlantic flight from Frankfurt, Germany, to Detroit was scheduled to depart, as is required. The passengers arrived in Frankfurt via a charter flight from Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and mistakenly believed they were cleared to board the Northwest flight, but were not.
"The passengers were accommodated on the next available flights to Detroit," Northwest said. "We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused the passengers."
A Northwest spokesman denied the airline discriminated against the pilgrims, but said compensation would be discussed. He said some of the Muslims got on the flight, while others could not board because they lacked required luggage receipts.
The January 7 incident was taken up by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which welcomed the airline's apology, but said the group wanted clarification and compensation.
"Northwest has not taken full responsibility," said Dawud Walid, Michigan director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, who said he will meet this week with airline representatives.
Walid said many in the group were bypassed in line by other passengers who were allowed to board the flight.
He said as the stranded passengers left the gate, one reported that an airline worker commented: "'My God, not only are these people Muslims, but they're Americans too.'"
Since the 2001 terror attacks, there have been frequent allegations of discrimination against Muslims, Arabs or people who appear to be Arabs by U.S. airline workers, customs agents, or security agents.
I guess it's back to patting down Grandma and Sven.
ARrrggghhhh.... Apology???? For following proceedure that would have applied to them no matter what race/religion/where they were from?
Give me a break!
International flight check in and boarding procedures are for the little people.
They didn't have to apologize. All of right thinking America was with them in this. Disgusting.
When will they apologize to us who are offended that they apologized to the "people of outrage" because they did their jobs.
I had to wait 6 hours to get another connection, was there an apology, hell no.
I guess one white guy doesn't rate as high as 40 muslims.
Grovling in front of these people only earns contempt, from them and the rest of us too.
"A Northwest spokesman denied the airline discriminated against the pilgrims, but said compensation would be discussed."
They are NOT entitled to compensation; the airline was following procedure, for crying out loud!
I had a link to the airlines to email them, but lost it. If anyone has one put it up and lets complain to them. I think they need to apologize to all Americans who they have inconvenienced over the past years too. If the Muslims get an apology so should we.
Bunch of dumb a**es! Northwest should have told them to pound some of that Mecca sand!
C.A.I.R. Collective Against Individual Rigthts...Mohammed's Mob MO BUMP!
Uh....Muslims are taking the Haj to DETROIT? Is that officially the new Mecca? When is the meteor going to be moved? WTF is WITH these unbelievable stories??
ESPECIALY since they connected from a charter flight where the security is lax or NON Existant!
They certainly seem to think that way. I was going thru airport security a couple months ago and a muslim guy was in the same line.
He was dressed and acting as if he was asking to be pulled aside and given a pat down. He had a draping Saudi sheik wrap-around, a Khomeini style beard, and an Arafat headscarf. In dress alone this guy was just screaming "probe me." But there was more - his attitude about the whole thing. He was hand carrying a decorative Koran with him. Actually it was more of a Koran-in-the-box - a large hinged wooden container with a bunch of arabic scribble on it and dozens of taxi-cab style wooden bead things attached the side. When he got to the x-ray machine he started arguing with the agent about having to put his Koran through. He kept telling them it was not metal, so he should be allowed to carry it through the metal detector. The agent insisted he put it on the conveyer belt and after much arguing he finally relented.
Then he goes through the metal detector without his Koran and sure enough...BZZZT! The buzzer goes off. Turns out he had some sort of necklace thing buried under the table cloth he was wearing.
After more arguing he removed it and went back through, acting the entire time as if security screening was beneath him and should not apply. Then it goes off a second time. Turns out he had a cell phone buried between the sheets as well. The security agent was just about fed up with him by this time and pulled him aside for wanding and a pat down. All the while this muslim guy was protesting about how unfairly he was being treated. His attitude during the entire ordeal was "I am muslim so I am above all of this security garbage for the normal people, and you are discriminating against me if you make me submit to it."
When it was my turn to go through security they were still wanding him, so I don't know what happened from there on. But had he shown up at the gate on the plane I was getting on, there is no question that myself and probably a dozen other passengers would've demanded he be removed from the flight.
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