Muslim woman claims Southwest Airlines barred her from exit row because of her hijab

Southwest spokesperson Brandy King said: “Our internal reports from the flight do not support claims made by the passenger regarding comments or decisions being made based upon appearance.”

Fatima Altakrouri claims that the flight attendant said: “If we sat her there, she’d bring down the plane in an emergency.”

How likely is that? Before the Covid hysteria hit, for about ten years I was flying at very least once every couple of weeks. I flew all over the country and to Europe and Australia as well. I’ve been on hundreds of flights. On many of those flights were Muslims in hijabs as well as Muslim men in djellabas etc. I never saw anyone give them any trouble. I once saw about 20 Muslim men gather in a gate area for prayers, after which they boarded the plane I boarded as well. No one bothered them. My experiences don’t mean that no Muslim ever experiences unpleasantness from rude people on flights, but how likely do you think it is that this flight attendant decided to insult this woman publicly and imply she was a terrorist? Quite aside from the issue of “Islamophobia,” I’ve been on hundreds of flights and I’ve seen flight attendants act rude and snippy, but I’ve never seen them publicly mock or berate customers. I was on a flight once sitting next to a drunk guy who kept the flight attendant waiting on him constantly, as he loudly and rudely demanded drink after drink, as well as extra food. She kept giving him what he demanded, without a cross word. I’m sure it has happened that flight attendants will make fun of customers within the earshot of other customers and of the targeted person as well, but I suspect that such incidents are vanishingly rare. Also, nowadays the American public in general has been sensitized to the supposed problem of “Islamophobia,” and for the most part people bend over backward to be solicitous to religious Muslims, as they are afraid of accusations of “bigotry” and public claims of discrimination such as this one.

All that makes me skeptical of what Fatima Altakrouri and Muna Kowni are claiming here. If the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) gets involved, as is likely, I’ll be even more skeptical, as CAIR has shaken down numerous American companies with claims of discrimination against Muslims. Victim status is as lucrative as it is coveted in our sick society today, and there have been numerous spurious claims of hate crimes against Muslims. Nevertheless, Southwest doesn’t want a firestorm of negative publicity, and so may well just give the sisters a payout to make this whole thing go away. Nice work if you can get it.

“Muslim woman says Southwest barred her from plane’s exit row because of hijab,” by Eve Chen, USA Today, June 2, 2021 (thanks to Henry):

A Muslim woman from Texas has filed a complaint with the Department of Transportation, saying she was not allowed to sit in an emergency exit row on a Southwest Airlines flight because she was wearing a hijab, but her sister was allowed to sit there without one. Southwest says it’s not what it seems.

Fatima Altakrouri and Muna Kowni were traveling from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Dallas on May 22, when they spotted the last two seats together in the emergency exit row.

Altakrouri said that at first, she didn’t think anything of it when she asked a flight attendant if they could sit there and was told no.

“As I was walking, I overheard her saying to the passengers in the seats that were around that area, laughing, saying that ‘If we sat her there, she’d bring down the plane in an emergency,” said Altakrouri, who wears a hijab. “You can imagine the shock I was in at that time.”

Altakrouri said she wasn’t sure she heard that right, but then her sister followed up.

“She asked her, ‘Why can’t my sister sit here?’” Altakrouri said the flight attendant responded, “She cannot sit here because she can’t speak English.”

“I told her twice, ‘She speaks English,” Kowni added. “She’s spoken English in front of her.”

In a statement to USA TODAY, Southwest spokesperson Brandy King said: “Our internal reports from the flight do not support claims made by the passenger regarding comments or decisions being made based upon appearance. The safety of our passengers is paramount, and individuals seated in an exit row are required to verbally indicate that they can perform certain duties in flight. Our Crew is responsible for getting that confirmation from a passenger before seating them in an overwing exit row and was unable to gain acknowledgment from the passenger during boarding. Therefore, as a courtesy, the Crew offered her an alternate seat.”

I felt like I was not American at all’

The sisters, who were born and raised in the U.S., said they didn’t want to make a scene and get kicked off the flight, but they noted that the flight attendant had several opportunities to confirm Altakrouri spoke English.

“We both spoke Arabic; we both spoke English,” said Kowni, who is also Muslim but does not wear a hijab. “So, why didn’t you tell me I don’t speak English? I spoke Arabic like her, too. … So it couldn’t be any more clear than that when it comes to discrimination.”

“I felt like I was not American at all,” Altakrouri said….

The sisters said they tried to talk to the flight attendant one last time as they were leaving the plane upon arrival.

“All she does is scream at us, ‘Get off the plane,’ and she pointed out towards the door,” Kowni said….

“I would like for them to at least reach out, you know, show that they, you know, apologize,” Kowni said….

The sisters said they plan to keep flying Southwest.