American Airlines CEO: ‘We fell short’ in removal of Black passengers

“I am incredibly disappointed by what happened on that flight and the breakdown of our procedures,” Isom wrote. “We fell short of our commitments and failed our customers in this incident.”

In the lawsuit, filed last month in federal court, three passengers said American Airlines employees removed them and five other Black men from their seats on a January flight before it was scheduled to take off from Phoenix. Eventually, an employee told them that someone on the flight had complained about body odor, even though no one had accused the plaintiffs themselves.

The men eventually were allowed back on the flight to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, but the lawsuit called the experience “traumatic, upsetting, scary, humiliating, and degrading.” The three men who ultimately filed the suit shared contact information after the flight but did not see the other five again.

American Airlines declined to comment on the lawsuit Thursday. A recent court filing said the plaintiffs and the airline “have agreed to engage in settlement discussions.”

The allegations placed American back under scrutiny, several years after the NAACP issued a travel advisory in 2017 warning that Black passengers could encounter “disrespectful, discriminatory or unsafe conditions” when flying on the airline.

Derrick Johnson, the NAACP’s president and CEO, said that advisory was lifted the following year, after American committed to moves — including creating a diversity, equity and inclusion council — to prevent discrimination. He warned in a statement earlier this month that the NAACP would need to reinstate an advisory if the airline did not deliver a “swift and decisive response” to the situation. The statement said American disbanded the DEI council in 2023 and urged the airline to revive it.

Isom wrote in his letter to employees that he had spoken with Johnson about the NAACP’s concerns. American is creating a new “oversight and excellence advisory group” that will focus on improving travel for Black passengers, Isom said. The airline also is updating its process for handling customer allegations of discrimination or bias; reviewing operational manuals, with a focus on scenarios where passengers could be removed; and introducing new training to help staff “recognize and address bias and discrimination.”

In an emailed statement Thursday, the NAACP said it had made the return of that advisory council one of its conditions for not issuing a new advisory.

“The NAACP is pleased to see American Airlines has taken initial steps to forge a path toward a more inclusive experience for all,” the organization said. “While it is unfortunately common for Black consumers to experience racism and discrimination at the hands of corporations, it is not common to see such swift, and decisive action. It is our hope that this approach will serve as a model for other corporations who may find themselves in similar situations.”