The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) released a Consent Order on Friday against Delta that had previously offloaded passengers for religious reasons.
Delta employees on several flights felt uncomfortable with Muslim passengers and ended up booting them off flights even when they had cleared security like every other passenger.
What is interesting in the Consent Order is that while Delta does not dispute the events, it does not believe that the actions taken were discriminatory. Any reasonable person given a read of the events would disagree with Delta’s pleas of innocence.
Here is the Consent Order:
Conclusion
I would encourage everyone to read the findings of the DOT in regards to these two incidents. If merely the looks of the passengers or that someone utters or writes the word “god” is enough to get offloaded, there is something wrong with the airline.
There are at least two, if not three, zeroes missing from the DOT fine. A $50,000 civil penalty in the context of Delta’s revenue is utterly ridiculous. I hope that these passengers have taken Delta to court to have adequate justice and those courts impose a more appropriate and punitive fine.
