NAACP MEETING SPURS AMERICAN AIRLINES TO IMPLEMENT ANTI- RACISM TRAINING
American Airlines plans to implement company- wide anti- racism training, conduct a diversity analysis, and overhaul the carrier’s customer discrimination claims process in the wake of charges of racial bias and insensitivity leveled at the airline, the Sun- Times has learned.
The company will announce a four- point plan of action to combat the charges after a meeting between American Airlines CEO Doug Parker, NAACP President Derrick Johnson and Women’s March co- president Tamika Mallory.
In a letter to employees Thursday afternoon, obtained by the Sun- Times, Parker said the civil rights leaders shared perspectives on racial discrimination in its customer service that were “hard to hear.”
However, he wrote, “We viewed the feedback as an opportunity. Our engagement with the NAACP and Tamika Mallory has led to conversations both with external organizations and our own team members that we may not have otherwise had.”
The meeting was the second to be held with the civil rights organization after it issued a national warning to African- Americans in October that if they fly the airline, they could be subject to discrimination or even unsafe conditions.
Parker said while the airline is “proud of our long- standing commitment to equality and diversity … it is our intention to reflect on the experiences our team members and customers have shared and lead our airline forward to create a more inclusive society.”
To that end, the airline is initiating four specific actions.
Beginning in January, American will implement a new annual implicit bias training for all 120,000 employees, refresh its conflictresolution training, and hire an independent firm to conduct a top- to- bottom review of its hiring and business policies related to diversity, expected to take nine months.
The airline will further overhaul its process of responding to discrimination claims from the nearly 200 million customers served yearly, creating a new customer resolution team to respond within 48 hours and expedite investigations, and improve its internal system for responding to discrimination complaints from its own staff, ensuring accountability for staff who violate anti- dis- crimination policies.
“We are grateful for the thoughtful input we received thus far that will aid our journey. Our work is only beginning, but … we are confident in our ability to set a new standard in the area of diversity and inclusion,” Parker said.
The airline had met with both the NAACP and Mallory, who in October claimed she was a victim of racial bias when an American pilot ordered her off a flight due to a dispute with another airline employee over her seat.
The NAACP said that and other recent incidents involving African- Americans “suggest a corporate culture of racial insensitivity and possible racial bias on the part of American Airlines.”