TALE OF TWO DHIMMIS

Have you ever seen that cable reality show "Airlines" where passengers are routinely bumped and told nothing, but "Sorry that's how the airlines does business." Well here is another way they do business. Have you ever have this happen to you? But of course, it pays to "Arrive Late While Muslim."

Northwest Airlines will offer an apology and compensation to a group of 40 Muslims who said they were turned away from a U.S.-bound plane in Germany. The payment will cover "extra flight and hotel costs" incurred after the airline refused to let the group board a January 7 Frankfurt-to-Detroit flight, the Michigan office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said Wednesday in a prepared statement.

"We welcome Northwest Airlines' apology and offer of limited compensation as a positive step toward addressing the concerns of the Muslim passengers," the group's executive director, Dawud Walid, said in the statement. The group had arrived early enough for the flight but was denied boarding on the grounds that they were too late, according to the rights group.

Northwest spokesman Dean Breest said the flight already had been closed to passengers when the group reached the gate.
However, the carrier will cover any flight rebooking fees incurred as the travelers returned to the United States. Talks about reimbursement for hotel costs are ongoing, he said.

The incident occurred after the group arrived in Frankfurt on a charter flight from Saudi Arabia. Northwest didn't have a passenger and baggage handling agreement with the charter company, which meant that the airline didn't know the passengers were coming, said the spokeman. What I want to know is why any of that is relevant? It certainly doesn't help your ordinary passenger, who is given a blanket "We're sorry" while told to make their own arrangements.

Apparently, the [Islamic] men had to clear German security, delaying their arrival at Northwest's gate, and their bags hadn't been checked through to Detroit, but that the men were flown on the next available flights to Detroit, which is usually the case, but reimbursement for their additional costs is not.

But on another front we have a different, sane and surprisingly responsible approach to addressing Muslim demands: treating them like they do everybody else.

For the airport, it's about customer service. For taxi drivers, it's about freedom of religion. The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is considering tough penalties against taxi drivers who say Islam forbids them from accepting passengers who carry alcohol. There was no mention in this article concerning sight-impaired riders with seeing eye dogs who have also raised concerns among Minneapolis Muslim cabbies.

But the good news is that the Metropolitan Airports Commission voted Tuesday to conduct a public hearing on the matter February 27. Cabdrivers, many of them Muslims from Somalia, say they are being put in a tough spot. "Our people are ready to work with a customer always," said Yusuf Abdullah, 32, of Minneapolis. "I would like to keep my faith, and I would like to keep my job."

Airport Director Steve Wareham said his staff will recommend that cabdrivers who refuse a customer be given a 30-day suspension for the first offense and a two-year revocation of their airport license for a second refusal. The current punishment is sending the cabdriver to the back of the taxi line, which can mean a wait of three or more hours, drivers said.
"You go behind 200 cabs—that's enough of a penalty," said one driver.

Kudos to those Minneapolis authorities for their refusal to succumb to this form of ridiculous bigotry.