Airline Has Apologized, Calling The Incident A 'Misunderstanding'

An Iranian-American attorney was denied boarding on a Virgin America flight in New York, but the airline says the incident was a "misunderstanding."

Dallas attorney Bobby Abtahi was running late for his flight when he reportedly found himself in a revolving door with one of the crewmembers of the flight ... which he did not know at the time. ABC News reports that he was later told that a crewmember said Abtahi had "cut him off" on the way into the airport, and the crew did not feel comfortable flying with him on board.

Abtahi said he offered to apologize to the crewmember, but was told that would not make it possible for him to board the flight. The gate agent told him that she did not agree with the decision, but it was not her call.

In a statement, Virgin America spokesman Dave Arnold said “This was the result of a misunderstanding and we have apologized to Mr. Abtahi for his experience.

"As an airline that prides itself on our award-winning guest service, we take issues like this very seriously. We are sorry Mr. Abtahi had this experience, as it was not representative of the guest service for which we are known."

Arnold said Abtahi had been compensated for his inconvenience.

Abtahi later tweeted "I got a nice sincere apology from @VirginAmerica. You are now permitted to calm down Internet."

But he also said that the experience points out what is the most subjective part of airline travel today. He said that at any moment, anyone can feel "uncomfortable, and you're just tossed off. You're no longer innocent until proven guilty, you're just guilty."

(Image from file)

FMI: www.virginamerica.com