American Airlines apologizes after forcing passenger to change 'Hail Satan' shirt

Anika Reed | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption American Airlines flight attendant forces passenger to cover up An American Airlines flight attendant forced a passenger to cover up her outfit while she was boarding a flight from Jamaica.

American Airlines is apologizing after a passenger says she was forced to remove her "Hail Satan" shirt or get off the flight.

The incident happened in October, when passenger Swati Runi Goyal boarded an American Airlines flight from Miami to Las Vegas wearing a shirt that read "Hail Satan," as first reported by Buzzfeed News.

Goyal, a 49-year-old from Key West, says members of the flight crew asked her to change her shirt or get off the flight because it was "offensive."

"At first (the flight attendants) asked me to gather my things and come to the front of the plane, at which point I thought ‘Oh great, we’re being upgraded,' " Goyal told USA TODAY. "After a little bit of back and forth, my husband realized that the (flight attendant) was serious about us getting up from the flight. We quickly realized that there was a problem."

American Airlines issued a statement about the incident: "We apologize to Ms. Goyal for her experience, and have reached out to her to understand what occurred."

The incident came to light publicly when Goyal tweeted a photo of herself in the shirt on her private Twitter account, writing, "On Oct 30th, when flying @americanair from Miami to Las Vegas, I was asked to deplane or change my shirt. The crew humiliated me in public." She used the hashtags #ACLU, #NotSoFriendlySkies, #Discrimination and #ReligiousFreedom.

The airline responded to her tweet, writing that "discrimination has no place at American Airlines" and asking for more information.

Discrimination has no place at American Airlines. Please meet us in DMs with your record locator and contact info. — American Airlines (@AmericanAir) December 6, 2019

Goyal said the attention she gets from the shirt is usually positive, but on the day of her flight, the flight attendants who spoke with her "said the crew found the shirt offensive. That was the word they used over and over again. They did not say that a passenger reported it."

"Dress appropriately; bare feet or offensive clothing aren’t allowed," the airline says under the "conditions of carriage" on its website, though it doesn't define "offensive clothing."

The shirt in question was purchased from the Satanic Temple, a non-theistic religious organization that doesn't actually worship Satan, of which Goyal says she is a member.

The Satanic Temple says its mission "is to encourage benevolence and empathy among all people, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense and justice, and be directed by the human conscience to undertake noble pursuits guided by the individual will."

Goyal says that two flight attendants and a Miami-based customer service representative repeated that she needed to change shirts or leave. She says her husband was wearing a couple layers, and she put on his shirt to cover her "Hail Satan" garb.

Goyal said she is a frequent flyer of the airline, taking about five to 10 flights a year for personal reasons and has never had an issue. After the incident, she said she also emailed the airline and got a "canned" response.

According to Goyal, the airline has now offered her a refund for her flight, but she said she asked for two other things: apologies from the flight attendants involved and training for all American Airlines employees about religious discrimination.

She said her final requests haven't been granted because the airline says it is still investigating the incident.

"I want people to understand that if I were wearing a 'Blessed by Jesus' T-shirt or a Star of David or 'Praise be Allah,' that I should be treated the same wearing a 'Hail Satan' T-shirt," Goyal said, "If this could happen to me, it could happen to anyone. … I felt bad on that flight, I was embarrassed, and it was humiliating, and I don’t want anyone else to feel that way."

American Airlines sorry for forcing passenger to 'cover up' her 'inappropriate' outfit

American Airlines apologized to a different passenger in July and offered her a refund after she called out the airline for forcing her to cover up an outfit they deemed inappropriate.

Tisha Rowe, a doctor from Houston, first tweeted about the incident on June 30, claiming she was "disgusted" and "humiliated" after being given the option to "cover up" or get off the flight.

"My shorts covered EVERYTHING but apparently was too distracting to enter the plane," she tweeted. A photo of her outfit shows her wearing a strapless shirt and matching shorts.

American Airlines representative Shannon Gilson said the carrier was "concerned about Dr. Rowe’s comments" and "we apologize to Dr. Rowe and her son for their experience, and have fully refunded their travel. We are proud to serve customers of all backgrounds and are committed to providing a positive, safe travel experience for everyone who flies with us."

More: 2 Muslim men say American Airlines canceled flight after crew 'didn’t feel comfortable'

Contributing: Hannah Yasharoff