AirTran Airways has issued an apology to nine Muslims for their de- boarding  from a Washington-to-Orlando  flight. The incident occurred when two passengers on board reported overhearing some members of a group of Muslim passengers making what they interpreted as threatening remarks.

This resulted in an action from the crew, who  removed the nine passengers from the AirTran plane at Washington's Reagan National Airport. They were not permitted to re-board  or to board other AirTran flights  even after they had been cleared by FBI agents.

The public apology by AirTran was tendered after The Council on American-Islamic Relations  filed a complaint with the U.S. Transportation Department over the matter. AirTran also provided free return ticket to the passengers as compensation.

"We regret that the issue escalated to the heightened security level it did on New Year's Day, but we trust everyone understands that the security and the safety of our passengers is paramount and cannot be compromised," read a company statement. "We apologize to all of the passengers -- to the nine who had to undergo extensive interviews from the authorities and to the 95 who ultimately made the flight. Nobody on Flight 175 reached their destination on time on New Year's Day, and we regret it."