Northwest Airlines is discussing compensation for 40 Muslim pilgrims who, on January 7, defied international boarding protocol and tried to catch a Frankfurt-Detroit flight just 20 minutes before departure. The group was denied boarding. Northwest Airlines policy requires all passengers to check in at least 60 minutes before an international departure. In yesterday’s Washington Times, Homeland Security reporter Audrey Hudson quoted Northwest Airlines spokesman Roman Blahoski’s logical explanation for the carrier’s refusal to board the late passengers.

“The rules are the rules. It does not matter who they are; they would be turned away because the flight had already closed.”

Photo: Northwest Airlines Plane

According to Hudson’s article, Northwest Airlines rescheduled the 40 passengers on other flights that same day. Anyone who has ever missed a flight because they arrived late understands this non-prejudicial logic. But the story of the late-arriving Hajj pilgrims does not end there. The Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) got involved and demanded a public apology from Northwest. The organization further insisted that the Federal Aviation Administration investigate the incident. With pressure from CAIR, Northwest suddenly changed its tune and apologized.

“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused the passengers.”

CAIR welcomed the apology but, as Reuters reports, that was not all they were after. CAIR is now demanding further “clarification and compensation,” for the 40 Muslim pilgrims. Traveling down a slippery slope, Northwest Airlines continues to bend to the organization’s demands:

“A Northwest spokesman denied the airline discriminated against the pilgrims, but said compensation would be discussed. He said some of the Muslims got on the flight, while others could not board because they lacked required luggage receipts.”

Why compensate rule breakers? Look no further than the bottom line. Last week, a jury in Massachusettes ruled that American Airlines should pay a South Florida man $400,000 in compensation in a racial profiling case. After the verdict, American Airlines issued a statement saying that while they respect the jury system, the verdict “did not support the facts or the law.” This morning, American Airlines First Officer Scott Shankland appeared on Fox and Friends to discuss the verdict. Shankland is a representative of Allied Pilots Association. He said the pilots are outraged at this award.

As reported earlier this month in The Aviation Nation – and in a move that baffles security analysts in the aviation domain — Homeland Security officials recently allowed members of CAIR to assist in training 45,000 federal TSA screeners about sensitivity and diversity issues relating to the Hajj.

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