Pakistani-American couple thrown off US bound flight

yinka ogunlami

August 8, 2016 5:01 PM

A Pakistani-American couple were reportedly thrown off a US bound Delta Air Lines flight for saying ‘Allah’ repeatedly and sweating.

Pakistani-American couple thrown off US bound flight

Nazia and Faisal Ali, a Pakistani-American couple were reportedly thrown off a US bound Delta Air Lines flight for saying ‘Allah’ repeatedly and sweating.

According to the couple, Nazia had removed her sneakers so as to settle in the nine hours flight from Paris to Ohio, USA, sent her parents a text when a Delta Airline Crew member approached her and her husband Faisal.

ALSO READ: Canadian Prime Minister photobomb's beach wedding ceremony

“We had been in our seats for 45 minutes,” Nazia told the Cincinnati area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

“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 said.

They were then interrogated by a French police officer about their stay in Paris.

ALSO READ: 100 years of wedding cakes

The American-Islamic Relation has since filed a 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.

“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.

ALSO READ: Couple recreate picture perfect scenes from '101 Dalmatians'

Do you think the security measure taken by the flight was an act of Islamophobia or an extremely necessary measure following the Paris attacks? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

yinka ogunlami