--- description: A passenger speaking Arabic who has demanded an apology for being kicked off a flight was removed for threatening comments, the airline said title: Airline Says Passenger Wasn't Kicked Off for Speaking Arabic image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Southwest Airlines Says Passenger Wasn't Kicked Off for Speaking Arabic  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Apr 19, 2016 4:31 PM CUT  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Apr 19, 2016 4:31 PM CUT An Arabic-speaking passenger who has [demanded an apology](http://time.com/4297335/student-arabic-southwest-flight/ "undefined") after being kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight was removed for “comments perceived to be threatening,” the airline said in a [statement](http://swamedia.com/releases/statement-regarding-customer-situation-on-flight-4620?l=en-US&utm%5Fcampaign=&utm%5Fcontent=&utm%5Fmedium=&utm%5Fsource=&utm%5Fterm= "undefined") Tuesday. Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, 26, has said that he was kicked off a plane earlier this month while having an innocuous conversation with his uncle in Arabic. But Southwest says a nearby passenger who also spoke Arabic perceived the conversation to be threatening and alerted airline officials, the company said in a statement. “It was the content of the passenger’s conversation, not the language used, that prompted the report leading to our investigation,” the airline said in a statement. “We regret any less than positive experience a Customer has onboard our aircraft. The situation prompted widespread criticism of Southwest and [accusations of islamophobia](http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2016/0418/Islamophobia-rising-California-student-pulled-from-plane-for-speaking-Arabic "undefined"). A message to Makhzoomi and a call to his family’s home were not returned immediately. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4299301/southwest-airlines-passenger-kicked-off-arabic-threatening-comments/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4299301/southwest-airlines-passenger-kicked-off-arabic-threatening-comments/"},"headline":"Southwest Airlines Says Passenger Wasn't Kicked Off for Speaking Arabic","datePublished":"2016-04-19T16:31:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:52:05.321Z","description":"'It was the content of the passenger's conversation, not the language used'","url":"https://time.com/4299301/southwest-airlines-passenger-kicked-off-arabic-threatening-comments/","keywords":["California"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4299301/southwest-airlines-passenger-kicked-off-arabic-threatening-comments/","name":"Southwest Airlines Says Passenger Wasn't Kicked Off for Speaking Arabic"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Man Kicked Off Southwest Airlines Flight for Speaking Arabic","description":"A man says he was removed from a Southwest Airlines flight after having a phone conversation in Arabic while waiting for take-off.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/P9O1XTrK/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-04-18T15:32:26.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/P9O1XTrK.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4299301/southwest-airlines-passenger-kicked-off-arabic-threatening-comments/","duration":"PT1M11S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4299301/southwest-airlines-passenger-kicked-off-arabic-threatening-comments/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```