Luke Bodell
13–17 minutes
The airline is set to make significant changes to its DEI approach.
Summary
- American Airlines CEO Robert Isom vows change at AA after body odor incident involving 8 black men sparks discrimination lawsuit and NAACP travel advisory threat.
- CEO promises immediate action like forming advisory group and enhancing internal reporting on discrimination concerns.
- The airline has removed employees involved in the incident from service.
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom has spoken on the “unacceptable” incident earlier this year when eight black men were removed from a flight due to a complaint about body odor. The carrier is currently facing a discrimination lawsuit from three of the eight men, while the NAACP has threatened to reinstate a travel advisory warning Black Americans against flying with AA.
American Airlines CEO speaks out on body odor incident
As first reported by aviation insider JonNYC on X (formerly Twitter), Isom sent a memo to employees expressing his disappointment with “the breakdown of our procedures” before vowing to change the culture at AA. Speaking about the January incident, which only became public last month after some of the men launched a suit against the airline, the memo stated,
“It contradicts our values, what we stand for, who we are and our purpose of caring for people on life’s journey. We fell short of our commitments and we failed our customers in this incident.”
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
The eight men, who were purportedly the only black male passengers onboard the aircraft, were initially deplaned after a single passenger complained about the body odor of one of them, despite the fact none of them knew each other or were seated together.
American agents tried to rebook them on other flights – however, with no space available on other flights from Phoenix to New York, all eight men eventually caught their original flight having suffered the indignity of being pulled off, then put back on, the plane. According to a Dallas News report, the airline has removed all employees involved in the incident from active service.
Airline agrees to NAACP discrimination measures
Isom spoke personally with the President and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Derrick Johnson, and has agreed to take immediate action to address the issue. This includes:
- A new “oversight and excellence advisory group” dedicated to improving the experience of black customers.
- Enhancing internal reporting processes to encourage staff to come forward over any concerns pertaining to discrimination.
- Reevaluating its practices and culture, with a special focus on situations involving the removal of passengers.
- New diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training “moving beyond education to focus on real-world situations.”
The two parties have a fractious history after the NAACP issued a travel advisory against AA in 2017 following allegations of mistreatment towards black passengers. This advisory was eventually lifted in 2018 after the carrier committed to certain initiatives, including establishing a DEI advisory council and implementing ‘implicit bias training’.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
Amid rising concerns about the effectiveness and nature of DEI initiatives, many US and global firms have started disbanding their taskforces. American disbanded its own DEI advisory council in 2023, but this PR nightmare looks to have forced it into a U-turn. The airline’s dedicated Chief Diversity Officer, Cedric Rockamore, will lead the new plan and deliver further updates moving forward.
In a statement dated June 6th, the NAACP’s Johnson said, “without a swift and decisive response, the NAACP will be forced to reinstate an advisory against the airline.” One of the group’s demands is for AA to re-establish the DEI council to work alongside “an equitably paid team of diversity and inclusion experts” endowed with “implementation authority.”
Newsessentials Blog 
Posted on June 19, 2024
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