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Passenger Accuses Air Canada of Not Doing Anything to Counter Racist Abuse

A woman from Sao Paulo, Brazil, is accusing Air Canada of not following through on their own policy against racism and discrimination, after she was verbally abused by another passenger.
Air Canada passenger accuses airline of not following through on policy against racism 10 photos
Photo: BuzzFeedNews.com
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Sonamjeet Narwan was boarding an Air Canada flight from Washington D.C. to Toronto, Canada, when the alleged abuse happened. She tells the Huffington Post that she was waiting in line to board the plane, when another woman cut in front of her.

Narwan informed the woman that she would have to wait her turn, but the woman ignored her. Pressed, she told Narwan that she knew “her type” and called her a “9/11 bloodsucker.” According to Narwan, cabin crew witnessed the incident but didn’t do anything about it.

In fact, they refused to act against the racist passenger even when Narwan went to them with a formal complaint. They told her that she must talk to the police, which Narwan did but only to be told that police couldn’t intervene because no physical assault had taken place.

The only thing Air Canada staff did was to offer Narwan an in-flight seat upgrade, which she accepted because the other woman was seated next to her and wouldn’t stop smirking at her.

Narwan is upset about the incident because, as HuffPost notes, in “its international tariff conditions, Air Canada says passengers are prohibited from being abusive, offensive, threatening, intimidating, violent or disorderly. If employees believe there’s a possibility the passenger would disrupt or impair the ‘physical comfort or safety’ of others, they can refuse to allow the passenger to board, or require they follow ‘probationary conditions’.”

In short, Air Canada, like any other airline, can refuse to fly a passenger if they’re being abusive (which also includes racist remarks) towards other fliers. Still, they did nothing on this particular occasion, even though staff was right there, watching the incident unfold. Staff did agree with Narwan that the woman was “clearly racist” but stressed that this was not illegal.

“I want some acknowledgment from the airline that how this abuse was handled was nothing less than horrid,” Narwan tells the publication.

Air Canada says it’s conducting an investigation into the incident.
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About the author: Elena Gorgan
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Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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