Citing a rise in disturbing incidents, the NAACP warns black Americans against flying on American Airlines.
DALLAS — The NAACP is warning African-Americans that if they fly on American Airlines they could be subject to discrimination or even unsafe conditions.
American’s CEO said Wednesday that he was disappointed by the announcement and that American wants to discuss the matter with the civil rights group.
The NAACP said that for several months it has watched a pattern of disturbing incidents reported by African-American passengers. Among them were separate cases in which an NAACP official and another civil rights activist were kicked off flights.
New NAACP President Derrick Johnson said his organization’s members are not boycotting American Airlines, but the sheer number of events made them feel like they had to issue a warning.
“We’re not telling people not to fly on American,” he said. “We’re just saying to individuals that here is an advisory note. We have picked up a pattern of a certain behavior of this corporation and until further notice be on alert.”
Fort Worth-based American Airlines issued a statement saying that it serves customers of all backgrounds and itself has a diverse group of employees.
In a memo to employees, CEO Doug Parker said American endorses the NAACP’s mission statement against racial discrimination. “We do not and will not tolerate discrimination of any kind,” Parker wrote. “We have reached out to the NAACP and are eager to meet with them to listen to their issues and concerns.”
The NAACP highlighted four recent incidents in which African-American passengers said they were treated in a discriminatory way.
One involved the head of the North Carolina NAACP, the Rev. William Barber, who sued American after being removed from a flight last year. 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.
Barber accused the other passenger of making a comment about having a problem with “those people.”
An incident last week involved Tamika Mallory, an organizer of the Women’s March on Washington in January. Mallory had changed her seat at an airport kiosk, only to be told at the gate that the seat had been assigned to another customer.
Mallory said she was treated disrespectfully by the gate agent — another African-American woman — and was outraged when a white male pilot asked if she could control herself while on the flight.
After being told she was being kicked off the plane, Mallory called the pilot a racist in a profanity-laced exchange. She took a later flight home to New York on American, then held a news conference two days later and threatened to take legal action.
The NAACP called its warning a travel advisory, similar to the one it issued against Missouri in August after citing reports that African-Americans were more likely than whites to be stopped by law enforcement officers there, as well as other current and past racial issues in the state.
Johnson would not say whether his organization would issue more warnings in the future.
The group’s advisory comes on top of several complaints of racial discrimination lodged against airlines in recent years, particularly by Muslims, some of whom have said they were booted off flights just because other passengers felt uncomfortable around them.