The thing is, the situation WAS resolved, it had less to do with the agents nationality then it had to do with his threatening manner as well has his challange to authority. The captain of an airplane is responsible for the wellbeing of a multimillion dollar investment as well as the souls of a couple hundred human beings who are depending on that captain to get them where they are going safe and sound.
The more I think about this matter, the less respect I have for this agent.
The plane had a scheduled 40 minute delay to board all passengers and luggage from the flight cancelled for mechanical reasons. A five minute call to White House by either the Captain or the SOC Manager could have easily been squeezed into the planned wait time. Instead the captain delayed the flight 75 minutes and made no one happy.
As it is, after the plane left, this was done and the agent went out on the next plane. Of course, that was AFTER it had been verified that he was in fact an officer and the agents supervisor apologized for the agent losing his temper.
Agent did not go out on the next flight. He wasnt able to get another flight out until the next day after the SEcret Service had contacted American Airlines and asked them for permission. His arrival was almost 24 hours later than if he had been on the flight that left without him.
The thing is, the situation WAS resolved, it had less to do with the agents nationality then it had to do with his threatening manner as well has his challange to authority.
The situation was not resolved. He was allowed to fly on American the day after Christmas but its not clear that the ban on flying American Airlines is not still in place. How you can say it less to do with nationality than it had to do with his threatening manner when a history of the Middle East was the big evidence against him, besides his appearance and name. If the pilot had made any attempt to determine who he was I would agree with you. Even the pilot doesnt indicate that the Agent got threatening until near the end. Sounded to me like as soon as he felt the threat, he left the gate, closed the cockpit door and took off.
Additionally, its unproven that he threatened anyone. Will be interesting to see what happens when the two sides start taking depositions and when the Airlines personnel are interviewed by the Seceret Service under oath as part of their investigation. Lying under oath has sent many a political type to jail like Clinton's former transportation secretary.