FORT WORTH, Texas — A Muslim woman from Dallas-Fort Worth is the focus of a religious discrimination complaint filed against Southwest Airlines on Tuesday after she said a flight attendant targeted her because she was wearing a hijab.
The Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a chapter of the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, sent a press release Tuesday about a complaint the chapter filed against Southwest Airlines.
A Muslim woman, who introduced herself as Fatima at a news conference Tuesday, said a flight attendant insisted she did not speak English even when she responded to her and told her she could.
On the flight, Fatima went to sit in an exit row seat beside her sister, but the flight attendant told Fatima she could not sit in the exit row because she could not speak English. Fatima and her sister had been speaking to one another in Arabic as they got onto the plane, but Fatima told the flight attendant that she did speak English.
The attendant insisted Fatima’s sister, who was not wearing a hijab, could sit in the same seat, but Fatima could not, she said.
The flight attendant said if Fatima sat in the seat she “would bring the whole plane down in an emergency” because she did not speak English, according to the complaint.
“That made me look like I was some kind of terrorist,” Fatima said at the news conference, which was held at her attorney’s office in Plano. “I am not.”
Fearing the situation would escalate, Fatima and her sister moved to seats at the back of the plane, she said. On May 22, Fatima filed a complaint against the flight attendant with Dallas-based Southwest Airlines. Southwest never responded to her complaint, she said.
“Me being born here, I know my rights,” Fatima said. “I know when it’s necessary to speak up. I’m doing this on behalf of myself and the many other women out there that have been in the same shoes as I have.”
When asked about the complaint, Southwest Airlines told the Star-Telegram in a statement that people seated in exit rows must be able to perform certain duties, but Southwest does not tolerate discrimination.
“We apologize to any customer who has a less than positive travel experience on Southwest and will look into the specific passenger situation referenced,” a spokesman said in an email.
Faizan Syed, executive director of CAIR-Texas DFW, said Southwest responded only when Fatima went public with her complaint Tuesday.
Syed said in a news release the situation was “textbook religious discrimination and profiling” based on the flight attendant’s attitude toward Fatima, who was wearing the hijab, and Fatima’s sister, who was not wearing one.
“As an American Muslim, when we fly, we understand we have to act different,” he said at the news conference. “This is an example of a larger issue that’s happening in America with our community constantly, where when we travel, there is an extra layer of stress.”
He demanded Southwest apologize and the flight attendant be removed from her position.
“The racism this flight attendant displayed is unacceptable,” he said.
