Travel advisory lifted on airline

WASHINGTON— The NAACP is lifting its travel advisory against American Airlines, saying the company is making improvements that address worries about African Americans being subject to discrimination or even unsafe conditions while flying.

NAACP President Derrick Johnson made the announcement at the NAACP’s national convention in San Antonio. The NAACP issued the advisory in October, after several incidents including an NAACP official and another civil rights activist being kicked off American flights.

Johnson said the NAACP is encouraged by American Airlines’ “commitment to improve upon their internal processes and increase inclusion across their airline.”

American Airlines CEO and Chairman Doug Parker said the company used the attention brought by the NAACP to continue to improve its customer interactions.

American hired an outside firm to review its diversity in hiring and promotion, and promised to train its 130,000 employees to recognize subtle or implicit bias.

The travel advisory came after several well-publicized incidents with American Airlines.

One involved the head of the North Carolina NAACP, the Rev. William Barber, who sued American after being removed from a flight last year from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to Raleigh Durham International Airport. Barber said police were called and removed him from the plane after he asked a flight attendant to tell a white passenger behind him to quiet down.