Delta Airlines responds to youtuber Adam Saleh’s Arabic discrimination allegation

Earlier on our Facebook, we shared a video of Youtube star Adam Saleh’s incident on a Delta Airlines plane.

Adam Saleh and Delta Airlines

In the video that has since gone viral, Adam Saleh says he is being kicked off the plane because of Arabic discrimination.

“We’re getting kicked out because we spoke a different language”.

Response from Delta Airlines

Delta has responded to the video:

“Two customers were removed from this flight and later rebooked after a disturbance in the cabin resulted in more than 20 customers expressing their discomfort. We’re conducting a full review to understand what transpired. We are taking allegations of discrimination very seriously; our culture requires treating others with respect.”

Delta was responding to a series of widely circulated tweets by Adam Saleh, who has over 1.6 million subscribers to his TrueStoryASA YouTube channel, and over 2.2 million subscribers to his Adam Saleh Vlogs YouTube channel.

Updated response at 6:45pm:

Upon landing the crew was debriefed and multiple passenger statements collected. Based on the information collected to date, it appears the customers who were removed sought to disrupt the cabin with provocative behavior, including shouting. This type of conduct is not welcome on any Delta flight. While one, according to media reports, is a known prankster who was video recorded and encouraged by his traveling companion, what is paramount to Delta is the safety and comfort of our passengers and employees. It is clear these individuals sought to violate that priority.

The purported incident

In an interview with CBSN, Saleh said he takes numerous flights every month, and he was upset because something like this never happened before.

“I speak to my mom on the phone every flight,” Saleh said. “She only speaks Arabic.”

He said when he was speaking to her, a woman in the seat in front of him turned around and told him he ought to speak English. Saleh said he told her he can speak whatever language he likes, and her husband responded by standing up and screaming at him.

Passengers uncomfortable with Arabic language?

Then about 20 people allegedly said they were uncomfortable with Saleh and his Arabic-speaking companion. The pair were approached by the captain, who Saleh said “seemed ashamed and embarassed” when he asked them to leave the plane because of the other passengers’ complaints.

As Adam Saleh is walking down the aisle of the plane, Saleh says he is being kicked off for “speaking a different language.” He said he was just innocently talking to his mother when “white” people around him began complaining about his use of Arabic. This led to a handful of Delta personnel asking Saleh to leave the flight.

Adam Saleh removed from Delta flight

In the video, some passengers can be seen telling the apparent Delta employees that they did not want Saleh removed, while others can be seen waving and saying “bye” as he walks away.

It is not clear what city Saleh was in where the incident took place, but on his social media he says he was traveling from Australia to New York.

Saleh later said he got on a flight to New York with a different airline after being “checked” for 30 minutes.

“I’m not gonna let this go,” Saleh said. “What if they do this to people like my mother who can’t even speak English?”

Adam Saleh on his Twitter said that he was booked another flight to New York and will be handling the matter as soon as he lands.

Thank you all so much for your support!! I appreciate every single one of you!!! Will talk when I land! Love xx

— Adam Saleh (@omgAdamSaleh) December 21, 2016

After the incident, #boycottdelta has been trending:

White people be like “Ew can we get these Arabs off the plane, I’m trying to get to Dubai safely” #boycottDelta

— Ahlam Chehabi (@Ahlam_Chehabi) December 21, 2016

More than 420 million people speak Arabic, its the 6th most spoken language in the world… @Delta wtf is your problem #BoycottDelta

— shannah (@PurposeEurope) December 21, 2016

i’m pretty sure slavery ended in 1865, all of the racism and discrimination should’ve went with. #boycottdelta

— auriyana ramírez (@amrr_lovedd) December 21, 2016