WASHINGTON: The US Depart­ment of Transportation (DOT) has slapped a $50,000 fine on an American airline, Delta, for alleged discrimination against Muslim passengers in two separate incidents in 2016.

A DOT consent order, released on Friday, classified both incidents as cases of religious discrimination.

At least two of the passengers — Faisal and Nazia Ali — were US citizens of Pakistani descent who were returning home from France. The third passenger has only been identified as Mr A.

In August 2016, a Muslim advocacy group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), requested a federal investigation into the incident involving the couple.

Faisal and Nazia spent their 10th wedding anniversary touring London and Paris and had been waiting 45 minutes for their flight to take off, when they were asked to get off the plane.

Delta said its flight attendants got nervous when Faisal put his phone in his pocket after texting his mother that they were on the plane, the flight had been delayed and it was warm on the plane.

One attendant said that Faisal “made eye contact with her but did not smile,” and another said he changed his screen as she passed.

The DOT noted that both flight attendants spoke with the captain, who conferred with Delta’s corporate security, which told the captain that the couple were US citizens returning home and there were “no red flags.”

A security officer also interviewed the couple and reported to Delta’s corporate security that they were clear to travel but the captain refused to take them back.

The couple was escorted back to the terminal and rebooked on a Delta flight the next day. The DOT noted that but for their perceived religion, “Delta would not have removed or denied them re-boarding.”

The second incident happened on July 31, 2016 on a Delta flight, when a Muslim passenger “Mr A” boarded a flight in Amsterdam for New York. Passengers observed someone giving him a small package.

The DOT stated that light attendants saw Mr A moving to a window seat, looking “constantly outside the window … and perspiring.”

A first officer saw nothing remarkable about Mr A and Delta corporate security told the captain Mr A’s record had “no red flags.”

The captain decided to proceed with the flight. But after flight attendants expressed “they remained uncomfortable,” he returned to the gate and asked that Mr A be removed and booked on a later flight.

The DOT concluded that the captain’s removal of Mr A from the flight after being cleared was discriminatory.

US federal laws say the captain is the final authority on the operation of a plane and on decisions to remove a passenger.

But the law also prohibits any decision based on race, colour, national origin, religion, ethnicity or sex.

The DOT received 96 discrimination complaints in air travel in 2018, including those based on race and religion.

The DOT said it “views seriously Delta’s violations” and believes enforcement action against the airline was warranted.

The consent order directs Delta to cease and desist from such violations, assesses $50,000 in civil penalties, and mandates civil rights training to certain Delta crew members and customer service representatives.

Delta disagrees with the DOT’s contention that it engaged in discriminatory conduct.

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2020