A Muslim family is requesting a formal apology from United after being removed from a flight at Chicago O'Hare last month. After a discussion with a flight attendant about how to secure a child booster seat, United employees said the family needed to leave the plane because of "a safety of flight issue," according to a YouTube video posted by the mother, Eaman- Amy Saad Shebley. "We are tired of Muslim-looking passengers being removed from flights for the flimsiest reasons, under a cryptic claim of 'security'," said Ahmed Rehab of the the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which is representing the family. United said it was all about the booster seat. "They were originally scheduled to fly on SkyWest 5811, operating as United Express from Chicago O'Hare to Washington, D.C., but we rebooked them on a later flight because of concerns about their child's safety seat, which did not comply with federal safety regulations," United said. "Both United and SkyWest hold our employees to the highest standards of professionalism and have zero tolerance for discrimination." The parents and three children from the Chicago area were flying out on spring break March 20 when they asked a flight attendant for an additional strap to secure their youngest child's booster seat, Rehab said. They'd tried to check the seat at the gate but the gate agent told them to carry it on board because the computer system was down, Rehab said. The attendant told them not to use the booster seat and they complied, Rehab said. The family was asked to show their tickets and told they needed to leave the flight, Rehab said. The father asked for a reason and a man who appeared to be a pilot told him, "Because it's my decision," the video showed. The mother, who was wearing a headscarf, asked, "Is this a discriminatory decision? What is the reason?" the video showed.<br/>"Because it is a safety of flight issue," the man said, according to the video.<br/>
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Lufthansa Group’s acceptance of a second Airbus A320neo was conditional on a compensation agreement because the Pratt & Whitney PW1100G geared turbofan (GTF) engine is still not operating to full expected performance levels, the airline said. Lufthansa spokesperson Anja Lindenstein said that agreement to accept the second aircraft was made after reaching a compensation deal with Airbus and after further performance improvements were made on the engine. “[Further] software modifications [to the engine] gave improvements, but we also found a way with Airbus so that we can operate this aircraft even though it does not give us the performance we want,” Lindenstein said. She declined to give details of the compensation agreement. “The conditions [under which the second aircraft was accepted] are also in line with the Lufthansa’s requirement that the engine must be improved, because we want to operate the aircraft throughout our European network and not only on domestic routes,” Lindenstein added. She said those requirements must be met before Lufthansa accepts its third A320neo, which is expected to be delivered this summer. The fourth and fifth aircraft are planned for delivery in the fall.<br/>