Airline apologise to Muslim woman for denying soda can

New York

United Airlines apologized on Wednesday to a Muslim chaplain, who said a flight attendant denied her of an unopened can of soda on a domestic flight, who said it could be used as a weapon.

 United launched an investigation after Northwestern University associate chaplain Tahera Ahmad complained about the incident last week, when she boarded a flight from Chicago to Washington. Ahmad said in a Facebook post the flight attendant had discriminated against her when the attendant refused her request for an unopened can of Diet Coke, saying it could be used as a weapon, yet gave the man sitting next to her an unopened can of beer. When she complained, Ahmad said, other passengers on the flight directed anti-Islamic comments at her.

Bob Birge, a spokesman for Republic Airways Holdings, which operated the Shuttle America flight on behalf of United, has said the airline's beverage policy does not prohibit serving unopened cans.

“While United did not operate the flight, Ahmad was our customer and we apologize to her for what occurred on the flight,“ United Airlines said on Twitter. “United has ensured that the flight attendant, a Shuttle America employee, will no longer serve United customers .