{"id":2321,"date":"2006-02-16T13:09:00","date_gmt":"2006-02-16T18:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?p=2321"},"modified":"2006-02-16T13:09:00","modified_gmt":"2006-02-16T18:09:00","slug":"a_letter_to_southwest_airlines1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/02\/a_letter_to_southwest_airlines1\/","title":{"rendered":"Airport security: A letter to Southwest Airlines"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>\n\n\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
Where is the LUV?<\/div>\n

<\/p><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

To: Gary Kelly, CEO & Vice Chairman, Southwest Airlines Co.<\/p>\n

Mr. Kelly,<\/p>\n

I have flown Southwest<\/a> Airlines for years. Your schedule, pricing and general performance make you a valuable asset to the business traveler.<\/p>\n

That said, Southwest\u2019s implementation of name-matching is one of the most absurd, xenophobic things any airline has attempted to do with a straight face. To be clear, I am an elite flyer for United, American, Alaska, Delta, and USAir. After 9\/11, I was pulled aside by each airline and asked questions, additional checks of my ID were done and then I was noted as a \u201cscreened\u201d passenger. From then on I enjoyed the use of automated kiosks and less hassle. Sure, I still get pulled \u201crandomly\u201d \u2013 but then there is Southwest.<\/p>\n

Since 9\/11, I have not been able to use your kiosks. I thought the issue was my arrival time at the airport \u2013 until the day I showed up with plenty of time. I queried the agent about this and was told my name was on a \u201cmatch list.\u201d Upon asking about the procedures other airlines used, and mentioning the use of my frequent flyer number, etc. it was described I would have to pulled over EVERY TIME flying Southwest.<\/p>\n

Every time? I wondered about the 4th amendment for a few moments. So then, I started a little experiment: I would monitor my flights with Southwest for the next year to see if you ignore the normal procedures of every other airline in the industry in favor of vigilante checking. Result: Yup!<\/p>\n

Now, to give credit where due \u2013 most ticket agents have been very friendly. After the 20-30 minutes it takes for them to go through their procedures, they have often have helped me get through the lines at security to try to make a flight. One actually called me on my cell phone to make certain I made it OK and explained how she was confused by Southwest\u2019s stance. She went on to tell me the \u201chome office\u201d said there was a policy to check every time.<\/p>\n

Calls to DOJ, FAA and TSA soon followed, in order to see what federal mandate existed to explain this wacked-out policy being used by Southwest. You can imagine my surprise when all parties told me the enforcement of the rules using the \u201cname match\u201d is up to the individual airlines.<\/p>\n

So Mr. Kelly \u2013 it appears you don\u2019t like my name. I didn\u2019t choose it, my parents gave it to me. I won\u2019t change it on your behalf to make you feel \u201csafer.\u201d Candidly, my name is the \u201cJohn Smith\u201d of the Muslim world. You seem to like my money and are happy to entice me with frequent flier points \u2013 but you want to treat me with suspicion and single me out upon entering an airport.<\/p>\n

I suppose you\u2019ll quote how the world has changed in the face of terrorism. You\u2019re right. I\u2019ll relate to you my own encounters with white supremacists who issued death threats against me when I ran for office. You want terrorists? They look like clean-cut white boys and have a \u201cY\u201d in their name. Don\u2019t believe me?<\/p>\n\n\n<\/tr><\/table>\n

And for the airline industry in particular: \u201cDB Sweeney\u201d<\/p>\n

Candidly, one could look at your name and the list above and draw some interesting conclusions. But we will likely agree such a thought would be ludicrous. Stopping all white men with \u201cy\u2019s\u201d in their name would be preposterous \u2013 wouldn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

Mr. Kelly, this policy stinks of something most good folks in Texas know not to step in. From where I sit, Southwest\u2019s Kafkaesque policy is racist, outright idiotic, and does nothing to enhance security for the traveling public.<\/p>\n

I would like to believe you are simply unaware some knuckleheads have decreed a reprehensible policy for your airline. I hope in bringing this matter to your attention, you will explain what steps you will be taking to correct this blight on your airline.<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/p>\n

Omar Ahmad is a Silicon Valley-based technology entrepreneur.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A frequent Southwest Airlines flyer questions their “match list” for Muslim-sounding names (including his) only to find out there’s no federal policy to use one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"yoast_head":"\nAirport security: A letter to Southwest Airlines<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A frequent Southwest Airlines flyer questions their "match list" for Muslim-sounding names (including his) only to find out there's no federal policy to use one.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/02\/a_letter_to_southwest_airlines1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Airport security: A letter to Southwest Airlines\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A frequent Southwest Airlines flyer questions their "match list" for Muslim-sounding names (including his) only to find out there's no federal policy to use one.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/02\/a_letter_to_southwest_airlines1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"altmuslim\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2006-02-16T18:09:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.altmuslim.com\/ee_images\/southwest_security.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest Contributor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/02\/a_letter_to_southwest_airlines1\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/02\/a_letter_to_southwest_airlines1\/\",\"name\":\"Airport security: A letter to Southwest Airlines\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2006-02-16T18:09:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2006-02-16T18:09:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2\"},\"description\":\"A frequent Southwest Airlines flyer questions their \\\"match list\\\" for Muslim-sounding names (including his) only to find out there's no federal policy to use one.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/02\/a_letter_to_southwest_airlines1\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/02\/a_letter_to_southwest_airlines1\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/02\/a_letter_to_southwest_airlines1\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Airport security: A letter to Southwest Airlines\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/\",\"name\":\"altmuslim\",\"description\":\"Global perspectives on Muslim life, politics & culture\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2\",\"name\":\"Guest Contributor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Guest Contributor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Airport security: A letter to Southwest Airlines","description":"A frequent Southwest Airlines flyer questions their \"match list\" for Muslim-sounding names (including his) only to find out there's no federal policy to use one.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/02\/a_letter_to_southwest_airlines1\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Airport security: A letter to Southwest Airlines","og_description":"A frequent Southwest Airlines flyer questions their \"match list\" for Muslim-sounding names (including his) only to find out there's no federal policy to use one.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/02\/a_letter_to_southwest_airlines1\/","og_site_name":"altmuslim","article_published_time":"2006-02-16T18:09:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.altmuslim.com\/ee_images\/southwest_security.jpg"}],"author":"Guest Contributor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Guest Contributor","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/02\/a_letter_to_southwest_airlines1\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/02\/a_letter_to_southwest_airlines1\/","name":"Airport security: A letter to Southwest Airlines","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website"},"datePublished":"2006-02-16T18:09:00+00:00","dateModified":"2006-02-16T18:09:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2"},"description":"A frequent Southwest Airlines flyer questions their \"match list\" for Muslim-sounding names (including his) only to find out there's no federal policy to use one.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/02\/a_letter_to_southwest_airlines1\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/02\/a_letter_to_southwest_airlines1\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2006\/02\/a_letter_to_southwest_airlines1\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Airport security: A letter to Southwest Airlines"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/","name":"altmuslim","description":"Global perspectives on Muslim life, politics & culture","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/2869b699bf0e57982cb1f212243705f2","name":"Guest Contributor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5010a3cc274cdb37811bf24de46dc280?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Guest Contributor"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

James Earl Ray
\nLee Harvey Oswald
\nTed Bundy
\nGary Mark Gilmore
\nTimothy McVie
\nTed Kaczynski
\nJohn Wayne Gacy
\nDanny Rolling
\nJefferey Dahmer
\nAntonly Onoprienko\n\n<\/font><\/td>\n		\n
Paul Charles Denyer
\nCarlton Gary
\nHarvey Murray Glatman
\nGary Ridgway
\nBobby Joe Long
\nConnie Lynch (former Grand Wizard of the KKK in Florida)
\nBeverley Allitt
\nDonald Harvey
\nDylan Klebold (and Eric Harris)\n<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
Andras Pandy
\nPatrick Kearney
\nRandy Kraft
\nMack Ray Edwards
\nRay and Faye Copeland
\nGary & Thaddeus Lewington
\nBobby Frank Cherry
\nMartin Bryant
\nArchibald \u201cMad Dog\u201d Beattie McCafferty\n\n<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>