Arab-American family slams United Airlines over discrimination

New York, Apr 2: An Arab-American family slammed United Airlines after its staff removed them from a flight in an incident that they claimed was "profiling" and "discrimination at its finest".

On March 20, Eaman-Amy Saad Shebley and her children were asked to leave a Spring Break flight from Chicago to Washington by the crew in what was described by them at the time as a "safety of flight" issue, the Daily Mail reported on Saturday.

In videos posted on Facebook, Shebley claimed that the air crew were "profiling my family and me for no reason other than how we look."

The two short videos show two air crew members talking to Shebley and her husband. In the first, a woman said that they were going to "ask that she step off the aircraft".

Shebley's husband enquires why, but the video cuts off before a response is heard.

In the second video, the captain of the plane is asked why they must leave and said "Because it's my decision".

When asked to elaborate he said, "It is a safety of flight issue".

In an earlier post, Shebley wrote, "United is kicking me and my kids off of the plane! For no reason! Captain said for the safety of the flight! ... Discrimination at its finest! I have everything recorded! We didn't say or do anything!"

However, United Airlines has denied the claims and said it has "zero tolerance for discrimination".

Advocacy group, Council on American-Islamic Relations sent a letter to United Airlines on the family's behalf demanding disciplinary action against the staff involved.

"We are tired of Muslim-looking passengers being removed from flights for the flimsiest reasons, under a cryptic claim of 'security'," said CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab.

"Security means securing passengers, not harassing and humiliating them and booting them off their flight for, of all things, actually asking for security."

IANS