American Airlines recently announced that a number of employees have been put on leave after racially discriminating against three Black men.
Per the airlines’ CEO Robert Isom, the employees who played a role in the incident have now been suspended. The number of employees who were put on leave remains undisclosed.
An advisory group will also reportedly be created to chronicle the experiences of Black customers and emphasize the importance of reporting any discriminatory actions.
The group will also create a diversity training program to highlight “real world situations” that serve as examples of bias and discrimination for employees to identify.
Isom also said that he spoke with Derrick Johnson, the CEO and president of the civil rights organization NAACP, about his concerns related to the discriminatory incident.
“I am incredibly disappointed by what happened on that flight and the breakdown of our procedures,” Isom said in the note this week, according to AP News. “It contradicts our values.…We fell short of our commitments and failed our customers in this incident.”
The removals and the newest initiatives come from a lawsuit filed by three Black passengers last month. According to the three men, Alvin Jackson, Xavier Veal and Emmanuel Jean Joseph, they were sent off the airplane after a flight attendant made comments about their body odor.
They joined five other Black men who were also previously sent off the airplane. After the airline was unable to find another plane for them to board, they were allowed to get back on.
Apologies are nice, but actions are far better! Days after this apology, American Airlines personnel are at it again. It’s time for more than apologies, it’s time for visible actions and appropriate customer care reform @AmericanAir https://t.co/4fW7hsjP0e
— Congressman Troy A. Carter (@RepTroyCarter) June 22, 2024
The men filed the lawsuit approximately one month after a Chicago woman also accused the airline of discrimination.
Per NPR, Pamela Hill-Veal sent a complaint to American Airlines, alleging that, on a flight from Chicago to Phoenix on which she was a first-class customer, a flight attendant stopped her upon exiting the bathroom and said she “slammed the restroom door.”
Hill-Veal was stopped once again by the same flight attendant when she used the same restroom in first class. He then promptly told her to use the bathroom in coach instead. The incident was racially motivated according to Hill-Veal as she, a Black woman, was the only one told to use the bathroom in the back.
American Airlines has been at the center of a number of discrimination cases with people such as track and field star Sha’Carri Richardson also documenting her experience being removed from their plane.
Previously, in 2017, the N.A.A.C.P. put a travel advisory warning on the airline, warning Black passengers about flying with American Airlines. Although it was lifted in 2018, the civil rights organization recently warned that, after the three men were removed from the plane, they might reinstate the travel advisory.
“The removal of our travel advisory in 2018 came as a result of a commitment to deliver on key stipulations that would prevent future discriminatory acts, one of which was a diversity, equity, and inclusion advisory council,” said the NAACP per a statement. “Recent discriminatory actions from company employees prove that there is a dire need for continued accountability and resolution to this clear pattern. We encourage American Airlines to come revive the advisory panel and reconvene with the NAACP to devise a path forward that ensures equitable experiences for all American Airlines customers.”
