NAACP Warns African-Americans About Flying On American Airlines

The NAACP is warning African-Americans to be careful if they travel on American Airlines after what the civil rights organization said was “a pattern of disturbing incidents reported by African-American passengers” that is specific to the airline. The national advisory was issued Tuesday and remains in effect until further notice.

The NAACP said in a statement that for several months, it has been monitoring incidents in which African-Americans appear to have been targeted by airline employees. The organization alleged four incidents, including two in which African-American passengers were removed from flights and another in which a white passenger was given preferential treatment.

NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said the “growing list of incidents suggesting racial bias reflects an unacceptable corporate culture and involves behavior that cannot be dismissed as normal or random.”

Watch: The NAACP Issues A Warning For American Airlines Passengers

The organization said that “in light of these confrontations, we have today taken the action of issuing national advisory alerting travelers — especially African Americans—to exercise caution, in that booking and boarding flights on American Airlines could subject them disrespectful, discriminatory or unsafe conditions. This travel advisory is in effect beginning today, October 24, 2017, until further notice.

In a statement, American Airlines said it is “disappointed to hear about this travel advisory as our team members — a diverse community of gate agents, pilots, and flight attendants — are proud to serve customers of all backgrounds.”

“Every day American is committed to providing a positive, safe travel experience for everyone who flies with us,” the airline said, adding that it plans to invite NAACP representatives to a meeting at its headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas.

Among the incidents alleged by the NAACP:

• An African-American man was required to relinquish his purchased seats aboard a flight from Washington, D.C.,to Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, because he responded to disrespectful and discriminatory comments directed toward him by two unruly white passengers;
• An African-American woman who had booked first-class tickets for herself and a traveling companion was reassigned to the coach section at the ticket counter, while the companion, who is white, was assigned to a first-class seat.
• The pilot of a flight bound for New York from Miami asked that an African-American woman be removed from the flight after she complained to the gate agent that her seating assignment had been changed without her consent.
• An African-American woman and her child were removed from a flight from Atlanta to New York City asked that her stroller be retrieved from checked baggage before she would leave the plane. The woman was a Harvard Law School student, the NAACP said.

“The NAACP deplores such alarming behavior on the part of airline personnel, and we are aware of these incidents only because the passengers involved knew their rights, knew to speak up and exercised the courage to do so promptly,” the organization said in the statement. “Historically, the NAACP has issued travel advisories when conditions on the ground pose a substantial risk of harm to black Americans, and we are concerned today that the examples cited herein may represent only the ‘tip of the iceberg’ when it comes to American Airlines’ documented mistreatment of African-American customers.”

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