Muslim woman says she was denied an exit row seat aboard a Southwest Airlines flight because of her hijab

• A Muslim woman filed a complaint with the Department of Transportation against Southwest Airlines.
• Fatima Altakrouri said the airline denied her an exit row seat because of her hijab.
• Altakrouri told USA Today she heard flight attendants saying, "if we sat her there, she'd bring down the plane in an emergency."

A Muslim woman from Texas said Southwest Airlines discriminated against her for wearing a hijab.

Fatima Altakrouri told NBC DFW she was denied the chance to sit in an emergency exit row while her sister, who wasn't wearing a veil, was not.

The two were flying from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Dallas, Texas, on May 22. Altakrouri said she and her sister, Muna Kowni, saw the emergency exit row had the last two seats near each other on the plane.

Altakrouri said she asked a flight attendant whether she could sit there and was told she couldn't. She also overheard a flight attendant say she "couldn't speak English and would bring the whole plane down in an emergency," according to a release on Altakrouri's complaint from the Dallas-Fort-Worth chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

"I told her twice, 'She speaks English," Kowni told USA Today. "She's spoken English in front of her."

Altakrouri told multiple outlets she has filed a complaint with the Department of Transportation.

Southwest Airlines did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Spokesperson Brandy King told USA Today that the company's internal reports "do not support claims made by the passenger regarding comments or decisions being made based upon appearance."

"The safety of our passengers is paramount, and individuals seated in an exit row are required to verbally indicate that they can perform certain duties in flight," King's statement continued. "Our Crew is responsible for getting that confirmation from a passenger before seating them in an overwing exit row and was unable to gain acknowledgment from the passenger during boarding. Therefore, as a courtesy, the Crew offered her an alternate seat."

Southwest has been in hot water for alleged discriminatory behavior in the past. In October of last year, for example, Southwest apologized to a 22-year-old woman who was barred from boarding a flight to Chicago for wearing a "lewd, obscene, and offensive" top.