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NORTHWEST AIRLINES RESPONDS TO ATTORNEY GENERAL LETTER
Attorney General Mark Shurtleff says he is pleased by the response he has received from Northwest Airlines. The airline issued an explanation to Shurtleff and an apology to three Utah residents of Middle Eastern descent who were not allowed to board their plane on September 20.
The three men had been extensively interviewed and searched by the FBI, Customs, Immigration and airport security personnel and determined not to be a security threat. Airline employees would still not allow them to board the second leg of their trip to Salt Lake City. The Attorney General sent Northwest a letter two weeks ago requesting information and an assurance that the airline would not discriminate against passengers because of their national origin.
"I am impressed that Northwest has responded in a timely and professional manner to explain what happened during this difficult situation," said Shurtleff.
Northwest Corporate Counsel Gary Bunce wrote a letter to Shurtleff explaining that airline employees were under a lot of stress after the horrific attacks of September 11. "In this environment, our employees face the daunting task for balancing our responsibility for security and safety against passengers' individual rights and civil liberties," Bunce wrote. "Northwest makes every effort to comply fully with all applicable civil rights laws and it is not our intent to discriminate against passengers on the basis of race, gender, age, national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation or other similar classification."
Northwest also instructed its employees that security concerns must focus on passenger behavior, not on passenger appearance.
"The state's interests are satisfied and our involvement in this matter is over," said Shurtleff.
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