Muslim Men’s American Airlines flight cancelled as crew ‘didn’t feel comfortable’

Two Muslim men said that their American Airlines flight was cancelled and they were harassed by law-enforcement because the flight’s crew “didn’t feel comfortable” after they waved hello to each other.

Two Muslim men said that their American Airlines flight was cancelled and they were harassed by law-enforcement because the flight’s crew “didn’t feel comfortable” after they waved hello to each other.

The men, Abderraoof Alkhawaldeh, a motivational speaker, and Issam Abdallah, a nonprofit director, said they were boarding a flight from Birmingham, Alabama, to Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, on September 14 when they greeted one another.

The two men were traveling separately to the same event in Birmingham, and were on their way home. They said that they knew each other from their local Muslim community, the Dallas Morning News reported on Thursday.

After they boarded, the flight was initially delayed, followed by an announcement made that the flight was cancelled. Alkhawaldeh told the Dallas Morning News that he overheard a crew member say it was cancelled for security reasons.

The two men got off the plane, and law-enforcement officers were waiting for them. They were questioned briefly and allowed to leave, but later underwent interrogation. 

This is not the first time that individual employees for the airline have been accused of discrimination. In July, an African-American doctor was forced off of a flight after an American Airlines crew called her outfit “inappropriate.”