Over the last few-years, Minneapolis’ St. Paul International Airport has had a problem: the cabbies waiting to shuttle off passengers outside have invoked the Koran whenever they spotted a bottle of wine or Duty-Free booze, refusing to carry the passengers.

Sometimes, it has extended even to passengers without any visible booze: one stewardess was denied five taxis in a row because she had wine in her suitcase.

Minneapolis has come up with a solution to the stand-off, finally, and it’s fair. They have no interest in stamping down on a taxi driver’s religious beliefs, but their new policy is that any cabbie who refuses a passenger must go to the back of the queue. That’s a potential three-hour wait for a fare.

It’s a tricky situation, but you can’t really capitulate: as the linked article points out, cabbies have also refused to take blind people as fares if they are accompanied by seeing eye-dogs, since good old Rufus is Koranically “unclean.”

A two-tiered airport taxi system could lead to ‘Chapter Two’ [Star Tribine] (via Upgrade Travel)

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.