AVIATION

21 DECEMBER 2020: SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

In a video press conference organised by the Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, two American citizens of Sudanese descent known only by their first names, Abobakkr and Mohamed, claimed they have waited for nearly a year for an apology from Alaska Airlines after they were unfairly removed from a Seattle-San Francisco flight on 17 February 2020. The pair had been sitting in their first-class seats when another passenger witnessed Abobakkr sending text messages in Arabic and reported to crew that it had made them feel uncomfortable. Although further security checks had not yielded any suspicious findings, the pair were prevented from re-joining their flight and from flying together on subsequent flights. Alaska Airlines responded to the allegations by claiming their actions on the day in question aimed to ensure the safety of the flight but that they had launched an internal investigation.