Back in July, I flew British Airways to Seattle, Washington. Those of you who are regular readers of Arab News will remember that on that trip I was assaulted and stripped of my civil rights by contract security staff acting under the direction and supervision of BA ground staff at Seattle’s International Airport. For those readers unfamiliar with the story it is available at the arabnews.com archive.
After the reports about my horrid experience were published, many letters were sent to Arab News from Arabs and Muslims who recounted the terrible treatment that they had received during travels to and in the United States. Certain common threads were apparent. Much of the abuse took place while clearing airport security for domestic flights in the United States. In nearly every report in which an air carrier’s staff was involved, the airline was either American or European. It bothers me that there has been little outcry concerning this clear and illegal pattern of persecution.
I was careful to keep these points in mind when early in August an information technology company telephoned and asked me to attend their conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. My initial reaction was to decline. But the more I thought about it the angrier I became. It seemed that if I refused to attend the conference I would be reinforcing the strength of the bigoted bullies who are profiting from the abuse of Arabs and Muslims — to the detriment of my own career. So I agreed to attend the event with certain conditions. I would travel only on a non-American, non-European airline and Las Vegas should be my only point of contact with the regulations of the US Federal Aviation Authority. That meant no domestic travel within the United States.
It took a bit of creativity to find a booking that would meet my requirements. Eventually it was agreed that I would fly a Pacific route — Manama, Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Las Vegas. The majority of the trip was booked on Singapore Airlines. There was some concern about the complexity of the journey, but I decided that it would give me an opportunity to test the reaction of a variety of airport security officers to a Muslim passenger.
When I traveled to the United States in July I had made compromises. I had worn trousers instead of long skirts. I had dressed in pretty, pastel colors instead of the darker hues I preferred. And I had worn a colored headscarf instead of my usual black. These compromises had made no difference. I was still harmed. This time I decided to just be myself and I resolutely went off for the flight in my long skirt and black headscarf.
To make a long story short, I was extraordinarily well treated throughout the entire trip. In 12 different security checks during the journey I was never asked to open my carry-on bags. At Hong Kong before boarding the flight to Las Vegas, I was very briefly and apologetically scanned with a handheld metal detector. In Las Vegas, clearing airport security for the return trip, I was asked by airport security to remove my headscarf. I refused, citing religious reasons. The security officer who had asked me to remove the scarf immediately apologized and indicated that I should walk through the metal detector.
After clearing the metal detector, another female airport security officer came up to me and politely asked that she be allowed to scan me with a handheld metal detector. I asked her why this was necessary since I hadn’t set off the machine. She answered that this was just an extra precautionary security measure. I gave my consent. I just stood there normally while she ran the wand over my body. After the wand beeped on my back the officer asked if she could please touch my back and the back of my legs through my clothes. I agreed. The officer gently ran her hands down my back and my legs and felt the pack of my shoes. She came around so I could see her again, smiled, thanked me for my cooperation and wished me a good flight.
Immediately before boarding the plane out of Las Vegas, two middle-aged airport security officers stood at a table in the boarding area. They asked some of the passengers if they could check their bags again. And they also briefly checked these passengers with metal detectors again. The security officers were extremely soft spoken and kind with everyone, explaining that they were very sorry to inconvenience people. Despite my black headscarf and Saudi passport, I was not singled out for the pre-flight search. What a difference from my previous experience in Seattle!
In Las Vegas, I had noticed that my treatment upon arrival had been different than what I’d been put through in Seattle. In fact, I was outside the airport 30 minutes after I’d arrived. No one in the hotel in Las Vegas seemed to notice my headscarf. They were all happy to serve me, take my money and say, "Have a nice day!" In the taxi, on the way to the airport, I described to the driver my stay in Seattle and experiences there, and I asked him why the situation in Las Vegas was so different.
He thought about it and replied: "In Las Vegas, we try to always offer the best service possible. It’s how we support our families. We don’t have any industries here. We depend on tourism for our bread and butter. If we made coming to our airport a bad experience, people wouldn’t come back. So we have learned to give service with a smile to all and we try to keep people happy so they want to come again."
An airline pilot I’d met in Las Vegas said something very similar:
"People in airport security forget that because I fly planes and you are willing to be my passenger, that we need to use the airports and so they have jobs. Airlines are going bankrupt because people aren’t flying. A good part of the reason why they aren’t flying is because airport security is so nasty. It does not have to be like this. I believe that as airports start making a lot less money due to cutbacks from carriers, that the unprofessional service provided by airport security staff will become a big issue."
In addition to the lack of problems with airport security throughout my trip I must commend Singapore Airlines’ outstanding service. I had noticed when I flew British Airways to Seattle, that while I was provided with their minimum level of service, smiles were few and the service was rushed. Additional service requests were not encouraged.
The service on Singapore Airlines was completely different. From the moment I boarded the first flight, every cabin crew I flew with worked very hard to please all the passengers. They did not know I was a journalist. I was just a frumpy Muslim passenger. But they were kind, smiling, caring and willing, hour after hour during the long flights. They tucked in my blankets, adjusted my reading light, and brought me water without being asked. The air hostesses came again and again to offer me snacks, drinks, magazines — anything that would make me more comfortable.
On the final leg of the flight to Las Vegas, an air hostess brought me a customer comment form and asked if I would take a moment a fill it out. I almost cried. These days, few airlines seem to care what I with my headscarf think about their service. After filling out the form I returned it to in-flight supervisor Edward Ang, and asked him why he wanted to know my opinion. He replied:
"You bought a seat on Singapore Airlines and my service goes with that seat. That’s all there is to it. It doesn’t matter who you are. When you are sitting in that seat it is my duty to offer you our high level of service and it makes me happy and satisfied if you enjoy your journey with us. If I am not willing to serve you well, then I shouldn’t be here."
What an interesting concept! Perhaps the idea should be brought to the attention of other air carriers whose cabin staff act like they are doing Muslims a favor by allowing them onboard.