Muslim easyJet passenger accuses airline of ‘racial profiling’ after steward burst in on him on the toilet mid-flight because he’d been in there for more than 15 minutes
- British passenger of Pakistani heritage was travelling from Morocco to the UK
- An air steward burst in on him after he had been in the toilet for 15 minutes
- Passenger believes the incident was due to his Muslim faith and skin colour
- EasyJet says the steward was simply following its safety procedures
Adil Kayani has accused easyJet of racially profiling him after an air steward burst in on him in an aircraft toilet
An easyJet passenger has accused the budget airline of Islamophobia after an air steward burst in on him when he spent more than 15 minutes in a plane’s toilet.
Adil Kayani, from Birmingham, was flying from Marrakesh in Morocco to Manchester on March 5 when he used the aircraft’s onboard toilet.
He said there was a heavy knock at the door and he shouted ‘I’ll be out soon, hold on a minute’ before an air steward opened the door and looked in.
The 35-year-old says he feels ‘completely violated’ by the incident, which he attributes to his Pakistani heritage and Muslim faith.
EasyJet says the air steward was following the company’s safety procedures, but has apologised to Mr Kayani.
He says he turned down a £500 ‘goodwill gesture’ following his complaint.
Mr Kayani said: ‘I think it was racial discrimination. They can see the colour of my skin. I was racially profiled. It was discrimination. I think it is Islamophobic.
‘I was made to feel like a criminal. It was really humiliating for me.’
Mr Kayani took a photo of the air steward he says burst in on him in the toilet of the plane
The 35-year-old says he turned down a £500 ‘goodwill gesture’ from easyJet
He added: ‘That is the first time anything like that has ever happened to me. The only way I can make sense of it is because of my racial background.
‘Why else was no one broken in to? It doesn’t make sense.’
A video he made on the flight records him saying to another airline worker that he was ‘putting my pants back on’ when the man walked in.
He said he was only given two to three seconds between the knocking on the door and the air steward’s entrance.
An EasyJet spokesperson said: ‘EasyJet is sorry if Mr Kayani is unhappy, however the cabin crew correctly followed safety procedures by knocking on the toilet door and then opening it after there was no answer following a concern that a passenger had been inside for some time.
‘This procedure is in place to ensure passenger safety of all passengers on board including the well being of the customer in the toilet.
‘There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that race played a role.’
The incident occurred about two hours into a flight from Marrakesh to Manchester on March 5