US Airlines has taken action against several employees following an incident where black passengers were asked to leave a flight due to a complaint about body odour.
The CEO, Robert Isom, addressed the issue in a communication to staff, acknowledging that the incident was unacceptable and that the airline failed to meet its customer service standards.
Three passengers filed a lawsuit in May, accusing the airline of racial discrimination related to the incident on January 5th.
“We are holding those involved accountable, including removing team members from service,” the airline said in a statement.
The company has also announced a number of initiatives aimed at preventing such incidents from taking place, including an “advisory group” focused on the experience of black passengers.
Three men, who were not seated together and unfamiliar with each other, filed a lawsuit in May alleging that every black male passenger on a flight from Phoenix, Arizona, to New York City was asked to disembark. In total, eight passengers were removed from the flight.
“American Airlines singled us out for being black, embarrassed us, and humiliated us,” they said in a statement.
The three men – Alvin Jackson, Emmanuel Jean Joseph, and Xavier Veal – were eventually allowed to re-take their seats on their original flight.
In a letter to employees dated 18 June, Mr Isom said he was “incredibly disappointed by what happened on the flight and the breakdown of our procedures”.
“We fell short of our commitments and failed our customers,” he said.
He stressed the airline’s firm commitment to partnering with civil rights groups like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to restore confidence.
This recent incident isn’t the first time American Airlines has faced allegations of discrimination. In 2017, the NAACP advised African American travelers to consider avoiding the airline due to ongoing complaints of disrespectful and discriminatory behavior.
There were also concerns about a corporate environment that appeared insensitive to racial issues and potentially biased.
Although the advisory was lifted the following year after American Airlines made operational changes, the NAACP issued a warning on June 4th of this year.
They indicated that they might reintroduce their advisory unless the airline swiftly and definitively addressed a January incident.