Hellobee Boards

I'm not okay with the outcome, I agree that other passengers should be allowed to express concern. HOWEVER, in this case after he was pulled from the plane (which should have been with respect) and his explanation given and proven there was obviously no threat, the airline should have been bending over backwards to get him back home not making him book through a different airline, I think that is ridiculous.

This is insane and a blatant case of Islamophobia. Shame on Southwest for booting this guy from the flight.

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: In this story, the airline stated a few chronologcal events and declined to go further into specifics. Which makes sense, they're not going to go into specifics of their security protocols to the public or how and why a captain and his/her crew make their decisions.
That being said, the story is heavily biased in favor of the passenger. Which is almost always the case with airline v passenger stories on the news. It's impossible for me to say what I would've done as a captain on this flight without having being there and knowing all the specifics (and I don't think anyone else can either) but IN GENERAL, I think it's better to suffer some bad publicity than have a smoking hole in the ground. The reporting passenger in this case may or may not have been wrong in this case, but they did their due diligence while traveling in the world we live in now. What may appear to be harmless can be a dry run. I say let the airline workers and law enforcement do their jobs.

@ShootingStar: I don't know that she felt threatened by another passenger "merely speaking Arabic." I'm not saying she was right, or that I would've done the same thing because I wasn't there. From the story, it sounds like he may have been speaking loudly (could be interpreted as excitedly to some) and he was repeating the word "Allah" which to SOME Americans who have no idea what that word means, may hold certain connotations. This is while they're in the boarding process, about to depart for a flight she wouldn't be able to simply say stop and depart from once they left. She felt something may not be right so she reported it. You don't have be right every time you're suspicious of something. My point was better to speak up, investigate and be wrong than the other possibility.

I work for an airline, and the military, and live in NYC so admittedly, terrorism and the possibility of it is on my mind all the time.

There have been too many cases of people kicked of airlines due to them being muslim lately. The outcome was completely unacceptable, together with the general perception of muslims and Arab nations in this country. Its very hateful and a show of ignorance to demonize an entire language, religion or ethinicity.

@PawPrints: Thanks!

I think this article is extremely one sided. It's obvious they interviewed this young man and are reporting this as a public interest piece and trying to shame the airline. But we don't know what else was happening and what else he may or may not have been doing (that he may not even been aware of) that caused the woman to become uncomfortable. We also don't know what sort of safety procedures and protocols the airline and law enforcement have in place that they went through before they decided to questions the young man. So with all those unknowns, and the world we live in today, I'm hesitate to judge the airline or law enforcement on this.

There's a lot of things is this story that sound awful. And reading the headlines that a student got thrown off of a plane for speaking Arabic sounds so ridiculous.

But if I knew I was on a plane and while boarding someone called Baghdad, just that knowledge would make me suspicious.

Also I think in general in the us were so afraid to discriminate others that it doesn't always lead to the safest of outcomes. Things like requiring everyone including children to remove shoes, which I realize they no longer do. But in general in think if we weren't so worried about offending people things like airlines could potentially be safer.

@Miss Ariel: why would that make you suspicious if someone is calling baghdad?

@MrsSCB: All of this! I don't care how biased an article is in favor of the passenger. He screened security and was talking to a family member in his native language. He did absolutely nothing wrong and it's absolutely ignorant to think otherwise.

@Miss Ariel: Are people not allowed to have families in Baghdad that they talk to? Or should they only be allowed to talk to them while not on a plane?

@Mrsbells: first of all, people who make phone calls while boarding annoy me in general. Ha! But I guess that's really not the point. I'm not going as far as to say that a call to Baghdad while boarding is means to be thrown off a plane. But it's definitely something that would make me a little uncomfortable to know.

@Meowkers: Airlines don't have specific safety procedures, the TSA does, which we all go through any time we board a plane. This past Saturday, my husband was boarding a flight from Dallas back to DC and got pulled out of his seat because "his luggage didn't screen security." He was then searched (despite having TSA pre-check status, having gone through security and his US government ID), and asked about where he's from and what his business in DC is (he lives here and works for the US Senate). He was speaking Gujrati with his mom (his native language - he's from India originally) while waiting for the flight to take off. He ended up being released, held up for 6 hours until he could get on another flight, and lo and behold, his bag that "failed security" arrived on the very flight he was supposed to be on in the first place.

Profiling is BS, end of conversation. Until one of your family members goes through it, you have no idea.

@Truth Bombs: exactly! I also cannot stand all the people saying well he should know better than to speak Arabic on a plane! Huh?! It's not every other Muslim person's responsibility to cater to ignorant Americans and make them feel safe!

@Miss Ariel: You're saying that someone speaking Arabic is reason enough to be nervous, though. Sure, if there's other suspicious behavior, I can understand, but just speaking another language? Or calling another country?

@Miss Ariel: so you think we should actively profile people based on their looks and native language?!

@Mrs. Carrot: wow that is so ridiculous! Typical America, though where having a brown skin tone means you are a terrorist. Unless you speak Spanish and then you're of course an illegal. God the ignorance of this country is infuriating!

@Miss Ariel: I guess I see it the opposite - if you start actively trying to profile people based on arbitrary criteria, a whole bunch of people who don't fit that mold would fly under your radar.

@catomd00: true no system is perfect. But I think we should use the statistics and data that's out there to predict the most likely outcome.

Too often in shootings people say I should have seen it coming because of x,y,z. And if those factors exist it makes sense to pull that person for at least extra questioning.