American Airlines issued an apology to a passenger who crew members made change her T-shirt after they deemed the words “Hail Satan” written on it offensive.
According to The New York Post, passenger Runi Goyal boarded her flight to Las Vegas from Florida on October 30 when one of the American attendants said they found the shirt reading “Hail Satan” and “Est. 666” to be offensive.
While Goyal and her husband initially thought the flight attendant was kidding, they realized it was no joke when they said she would not be able to board the flight unless she removed the shirt or covered it up.
A Woman Was Nearly Kicked Off a Flight for Wearing a “Hail Satan” Shirt https://t.co/jf21t0OtX5 @hemantmehta pic.twitter.com/CDTcVLO4eG
— Hiems Anguis (@Jugbo) December 9, 2019
Goyal told The Post she used her husband’s extra layer of clothing to comply after being told they wouldn’t be able to fly if she didn’t change. She reportedly felt humiliated by the whole ordeal and the passengers sympathized with Goyal throughout.
“I’m really trying to make some good deeds come out of this,” Goyal told The Post. “This is really about religious discrimination. Because they treated me this way, I can only imagine how they’re treating other religious groups like Muslims.”
Following the flight to Las Vegas, Goyal complained to American officials and was told the actions of the attendants was justified due to the airline’s policies for passenger conduct.
Thanks to backlash online, though, American officials took a more in-depth look at the incident.
As a result of the investigation, American issued an apology to Goyal and refunded her airfare, saying, “We apologize to Ms. Goyal for her experience, and we are reaching out to her to understand what occurred.”
The news of another spat between passengers and major airlines comes days after the International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced a new international treaty that would make it easier for countries to prosecute unruly flyers.
