NAACP threatens new American Airlines travel advisory

TThe country’s oldest and largest civil rights organization is threatening to reinstate a travel advisory against American Airlines following “recent discriminatory actions” against black passengers in what has emerged as a pattern over the years.

The NAACP was reacting in part to a recent lawsuit filed by black men who are suing American Airlines for “blatant and blatant racial discrimination” after an alleged body odor complaint led to their removal. The lawsuit filed by a group of black men claims they were removed from the flight in January after being approached by American Airlines representatives who demanded they leave the plane.

“(When) they arrived at the boarding bridge, they saw that several other black men were also being removed from the plane. In fact, it appeared to Plaintiffs that American had ordered all of black passengers on Flight 832 off the plane,” the complaint said.

In total, eight black men were removed from the flight “without any valid reason, based solely on race,” the lawsuit added.

The NAACP previously imposed a travel warning against American Airlines in 2017, but ended up lifting it the following year after saying the airline had finally made some significant progress in reducing incidents of discrimination involving black passengers.

But that progress ended last year, the NAACP president and CEO said.

“The removal of our travel advisory in 2018 came as a result of a commitment to comply with key stipulations that would prevent future discriminatory acts, one of which was a diversity, equity and inclusion advisory board,” Derrick Johnson said in a statement sent out. for NewsOne. “Amid a resurgence of DEI attacks, American Airlines disbanded the panel in 2023.”

The latest alleged incident is causing the NAACP to consider whether another travel advisory against American Airlines is needed, Johnson explained.

“Recent discriminatory actions by company employees prove there is a dire need for continued accountability and resolution of this clear standard,” Johnson said. “We encourage American Airlines to revive the advisory panel and reconvene with the NAACP to chart a path forward that ensures equitable experiences for all American Airlines customers. Without a quick and decisive response, the NAACP will be forced to reinstate an alert against the airline.”

The 2017 NAACP travel advisory specifically warned Black travelers that they could encounter racism from the airline. The announcement came after the NAACP advised American Airlines on diversity and inclusion after implementing a ban on “unsafe” conditions for African Americans.

American Airlines agreed to make major changes in several areas: research into diversity and inclusion gaps; implicit bias training for 130,000 airline employees; and launch a discrimination complaint resolution process for workers and customers. The NAACP said the airline went to great lengths to ensure its business was more comfortable for Black travelers and its employees.

The travel advisory was lifted in 2018 after Johnson said American Airlines “took substantive steps to begin addressing implicit bias.”

Six years later, it’s apparently “déjà vu all over again”.

To be sure, American Airlines has a long list of documented cases of specific accusations of racist treatment of black passengers.

In addition to the pending new lawsuit, other notable cases include activist Tamika Mallory being kicked off a flight following a seat assignment dispute in 2017. The pilot ordered Mallory off the plane and demonstrated “white male aggression,” she said. . Rapper Joey Badass was also racially profiled during an American Airlines flight that same year, he said. A flight attendant told him he didn’t belong in first class, he tweeted.

Also in 2017, expert Symone Sanders claimed in a tweet that American Airlines called the police because of a discrepancy in her luggage. She reportedly saw another man scream at customer service for 20 minutes and the police were never called.

It was around this same time that American Airlines also led the aviation industry with the most discrimination complaints.

And who could forget the legendary Reverend William Barber, organizer of the Moral Mondays progressive protest movement and president of the North Carolina NAACP, suing American Airlines after he said the company removed him from a flight because of the color of his skin?

Barber’s 2016 lawsuit alleged that white passengers were making noise behind his seat, so he asked a flight attendant to handle the situation. But after one of the white passengers uttered borderline racist words about “those people” in reference to Barber, police were called to remove Barber while the white men were allowed to remain on the flight, Barber’s lawsuit states. The American Airlines employee who rebooked Barber on a different flight reportedly told him that this type of racist scenario “tends to happen a lot” with the airline.

This is America[n Airlines].

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