Winnipeg Muslim woman felt 'humiliated' when forced to remove hijab in Toronto airport
Company issues apology, says employee on leave
A Winnipeg woman is speaking out after she was forced to remove her hijab while trying to board a Flair Airlines flight.
Kazi Amin flew to Bangladesh with her husband and children to visit their family. On her return flight, she had to change planes at Toronto Pearson International Airport. Amin cleared customs, but said she was stopped by an employee when she tried to board her plane.
"The airline employee took my passport, looked at my passport, looked at me, and said that my passport doesn't match my face, so I have to remove my [hijab]," said Amin.
A hijab is a religious garment worn by some Muslim women. Amin and her husband tried to explain that the hijab can't be taken off for religious reasons, but staff wouldn't listen.
Amin said she felt "humiliated" and "helpless."
"I don't know what else I could do. I removed my hijab in public.… We are not allowed to remove our hijab in public. We can only remove our hijab in front of our family," Amin said.
Amin's passport photo was taken in 2016 before she wore a hijab. She said Flair Airlines told her to remove it because her hair looked different in the passport photo. Amin's daughter Afsara Raidah said that's not a reasonable excuse.
"I'm blond right now. I can go back to being dark-haired — so is she going to go and make me bleach my hair right then and there before I board the aircraft? It doesn't make sense," said Raidah.
Amin had already cleared customs and security when she was asked to take off the head scarf. The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority's website says passengers don't have to remove religious head coverings unless it causes an alarm during screening.
The guidelines go on to say if a physical search is required, passengers are supposed to be given the option to have that search conducted in a private room. Amin said she wasn't given that option.
Flair said the employee is on leave and there is an investigation underway. It said the worker is employed by Flair's ground partner, AGI.
"While the individual involved is employed by AGI, our ground handling partner, not Flair Airlines directly, we expect all service partners to uphold the same standards of respect, professionalism and non-discrimination that we require of our own team," Flair Airlines CEO Maciej Wilk said in a statement to CBC News.
"AGI has issued a formal apology to the passenger."
Raidah said the apology is vague. She posted it on social media so people could see it, and said she would have liked to see it address her mother directly.
"There's a lot of other people that have gone through a similar situation, and it's not just Muslim women," said Raidah.
"Staff should be trained properly, making sure that they're meeting ethics and following Transport Canada's protocols."
Raidah says she's talking with her lawyer about taking legal action against Flair Airlines for the incident.
