for discriminatory actions stemming from two different instances in 2016 in which Muslim passengers were reported by other passengers for looking suspicious. In both those cases, Delta crews had the Muslim passengers removed even after their own security confirmed that they posed no security threat.
The pilot contacted security to ask to have the couple go through extra security. The security confirmed that the couple were no threat, but the pilot insisted they be removed and go through another round of security off the plane, as the flight attendants were “uncomfortable” having them on board. The couple was cleared again but still not allowed to return to their flight. They were rebooked on another Delta flight for the next day.
The second case occurred just days later on a flight from Amsterdam to New York. Passengers reported to flight attendants that they saw one Muslim passenger “making significant eye contact” and later receiving a small package from another “person of similar ethnicity.” Delta’s security officers reassured the captain that the passenger had no red flags, and the pilot pulled the plane away from the gate.
pbfa We can now see why.