‘Humiliated’: Rugby player kicked off Qantas flight breaks silence on viral incident

A high-profile rugby player who was kicked off a Qantas flight from Bali after demanding cabin crew apologise to his wife has broken his silence.

A high-profile international rugby player who was kicked off a Qantas flight from Bali after demanding cabin crew apologise to his wife has broken his silence, accusing the airline of humiliating his family.

But Qantas says it “strongly denies” its crew spoke to the man or his wife “in a rude manner”.

Zakir Slaimankhel was filmed in a viral TikTok video arguing with a flight attendant aboard an aircraft at Bali’s Denpasar Airport last month.

In the footage, Mr Slaimankhel could be heard saying that his wife was left in tears after an altercation with cabin staff, accusing them of mishandling his pram.

The argument escalated and the flight attendant told him to “stop” a number of times, as staff informed him police had been called.

It was later revealed to be Mr Slaimankhel in the footage — a prominent rugby player and charity ambassador who works with orphans for non-profit charity Muslims Around the World.

Mr Slaimankhel, who lives in Sydney but is originally from Afghanistan, represented his birth country at the Asia Rugby Sevens championship earlier this year and was the team’s leading try scorer.

He had previously not responded to requests for comment on the incident.

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Zakir Slaimankhel repeatedly demanded the flight attendant apologise. Source: TikTok

In a lengthy statement on Facebook on Monday night, Mr Slaimankhel finally broke his silence about his version of events on flight QF44, claiming airline staff had “humiliated” his wife engaged in belittling behaviour.

Qantas has firmly rejected those allegations, hitting back in a new statement on Tuesday morning.

“Qantas takes allegations of this nature raised very seriously and we will not tolerate any unlawful discrimination on racial, ethnic or any other grounds,” a spokeswoman said.

“We conducted a thorough review of the claims made by Mr Slaimankhel and his wife. Qantas strongly denies that its crew spoke to either Mr Slaimankhel or his wife in a rude manner. Our staff also deny making any inappropriate comments regarding the passengers’ attire. This has been supported by other passengers who witnessed the interactions.”

Qantas said the family were “removed from the aircraft after verbally abusing our crew a number of times prior to the flight departing Bali”.

“We acknowledge that this flight had a challenging delay, but the safety of our customers and crew is our number one priority and we do not tolerate any kind of abusive behaviour,” she said.

“We ask customers to follow the direction of crew for the safety and comfort of everyone on board. As a result of our review into the incidents on-board, Mr Slaimankhel and his wife have been issued with no fly orders with Qantas Group airlines for their behaviour towards our crew.”

Qantas says the family has been issued no-fly orders.

The airline said as a result the family were banned from travelling with Qantas Group airlines, which includes Jetstar.

In his Facebook post, Mr Slaimankhel said the couple and their three young children boarded the flight on Wednesday, October 19 after three weeks holidaying with family and friends in Bali.

“Unfortunately, the enjoyment of our trip was short-lived due to the appalling customer service and behaviour displayed by Qantas staff towards my family on this flight,” he said. “I have travelled to numerous destinations worldwide through various airlines but have not been subjected to such an abhorrent customer experience.”

Mr Slaimankhel then explained the dispute over the pram, saying it had been left outside the aircraft by staff who told him it would be brought on-board.

“I continued to carry my children and bags to our designated seats,” he said.

“As preparations for takeoff were commencing, I remembered that our pram had not been brought in. Subsequently, I quickly walked over to the front of the aircraft to check. Disappointingly, noticed that the pram was still outside the aircraft and not brought in and chucked to the side. I quickly folded the pram and asked a staff member where I should store it as the plane was full.”

He claims he was “sternly” told by the staff member to “go and find a spot” and not offered any assistance.

After the flight departure was delayed due to mechanical reasons, Mr Slaimankhel said his wife took the opportunity to change their five-month-old son’s nappy at the rear of the plane.

Mr Slaimankhel said the airline had humiliated his family. Picture: Facebook

While standing in line, he claims a flight attendant rudely told her to move away from the door.

“The stern instructions from this staff member were unjustified and made her feel belittled,” he said.

The flight attendant continued to speak to his wife in a “condescending tone”, he claimed, and as she exited the toilet the same attendant “shouted at” her for bumping into another passenger.

“In response, my wife apologised and advised that she did not see as I was walking out backwards due to the small space,” he said.

“Once again in a condescending manner, the flight attendant stated, ‘Well just watch it.’ Prior to leaving the toilet, she bent down to collect something on the floor, whilst she was doing this another flight attendant was staring at her in a patronising manner which made her feel disgusted. This prompted my wife to ask her, ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’, to which she said, ‘I’m not looking at you, I’m looking past you.’ Her response was absurd as my wife was standing in the toilet suite of an aircraft.”

Mr Slaimankhel claimed the flight attendant then “mentioned ‘it’s people like you with that head thingy’ in a stereotypical manner”.

There is no evidence of such a statement in the viral video.

The father is a prominent rugby player and charity ambassador.

“My wife was shocked and started shaking,” he said.

“The behaviour of the staff members made her feel extremely humiliated and distraught. She began crying and told them that they were very rude and condescending towards her. In response, they were unsympathetically dismissive of her feelings and concerns. Their treatment inflicted immense anxiety within her, she felt isolated, overwhelmed, and discriminated against. It made her question her self and feel powerless being a visible Muslim ... I did not witness any other passenger be treated in a remotely similar manner to my family.”

Mr Slaimankhel said his wife was “shaking and crying” and in “emotional distress” when she returned to her seat, and explained what had happened.

“I was in shock to see the state she was in and hear what had occurred,” he said.

“I approached the Qantas staff seeking an explanation and apology for the ordeal she went through. It felt dehumanising and frustrating that our feelings and concerns could not even be appropriately acknowledged or addressed.”

After the family were “shunned and ejected from the aircraft by security”, Mr Slaimankhel said even while collecting their belongings, “multiple flight attendants smirked at us”.

“This symbolises the lack of emotional intelligence exhibited by the Qantas staff on this flight which has had traumatic ripple effects on the lives of my family,” he said.

“The marginalisation of my family by Qantas staff, and the emotional distress and trauma it ultimately caused, was completely unwarranted. This clearly opposes the safe and inclusive culture advocated within your Qantas Group People Strategic Plan.”

He often shows off his luxury lifestyle on Instagram.

Mr Slaimankhel said the family felt “embarrassed, dehumanised and belittled” in front of fellow travellers and that the incident was “beyond disrespectful”.

“The staff’s lack of compassion and empathy towards a young mother with infants in need of assistance was appalling,” he said.

“She experiences constant flashbacks of the ordeal. The viral TikTok videos of the ordeal have amassed over 5.7 million views within 24 hours, which has led to character assassination of me. As I was reacting to the provocation of staff who were treating us as flight risks and heedless to our concerns. I was visibly upset at the tears and anxiety that they had caused my wife, which was exacerbated by the lack of compassion and human empathy expressed by the Qantas staff.”

He added that the family was “extremely disappointed” that Qantas had released a statement about the incident “before contacting us and understanding the full context of the situation”.

In the comments of the original viral clip, users were mixed in their response, with some siding with the airline, while others stating the man was defending his family.

“[I don’t know] who’s in fault here, but generally speaking … airlines’ quality of service and customer care (towards economy class) are just getting worse everyday,” one comment read.

“I would like to see what happened beforehand, but this flight attendant was trying to rev him up!” commented another.

— with Rohan Smith