A Muslim chaplain from a US university has claimed she was discriminated against when she was refused an unopened can of Diet Coke on a flight from Chicago to Washington DC, after the flight attendant claimed it could be used as a weapon.
In a post on Facebook, Tahera Ahmad, the associate chaplain and director of interfaith engagement at Northwestern University, outlined what took place on the flight, which included another passenger swearing at her and making anti-Muslim remarks.
Ahmad said she had requested an unopened can of Diet Coke “due to hygienic reasons”. The flight attendant told her, “Well, I’m sorry. I just can’t give you an unopened can, so no Diet Coke for you.”
The same attendant then served a man sitting next to her an unopened can of alcoholic beverage and when Ahmad asked the attendant why she could not be given an unopened can, she was told, “We are unauthorised to give unopened cans to people because they may use it as a weapon on the plane.”
After pointing out to the flight attendant that she had just given a man next to her an unopened can, she quickly grabbed it and opened the can, according to Ahmad.
After asking fellow passengers if they had witnessed what had taken place, a man sitting across from her told Ahmad to keep quiet, using foul language in the process.
“I felt the hate in his voice and his raging eyes. I can’t help but cry on this plane because I thought people would defend me and say something. Some people just shook their heads in dismay,” she wrote in her Facebook post, which was shared over 6,000 times.
On Twitter, the hashtag #UnitedforTahera was used by many who supported her and vowed to stop using United’s services.
In response to the incident, United Airlines’ spokesperson Charles Hobart, said, “United is a company that strongly supports diversity and inclusion, and we and our partners do not discriminate against our employees or customers.
“We are reaching out directly to Ms. Ahmad to get a better understanding of what occurred during the flight. We are also discussing the matter that Ms. Ahmad describes with Shuttle America, our regional partner that operated the flight. We look forward to speaking with Ms. Ahmad and hope to have the opportunity to welcome her back.”
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