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American
Airlines
American
Airlines’
current
motto
is
“Let
good
take
flight,”
but
that
wasn’t
true
for
three
Black
male
passengers.
The
airline
company
is
now
the
subject
of
a
racial
discrimination
lawsuit
after
three
Black
men,
who
say
they
don’t
know
each
other,
were
ordered
off
their
flight
back
in
January.
The
three
men
filed
their
lawsuit
in
a
New
York
federal
court
on
Wednesday,
May
29,
claiming
they,
along
with
five
other
Black
men,
were
asked
to
get
off
a
Phoenix
flight
before
it
departed.
The
Grio
reports
the
men
were
sitting
in
different
sections
of
the
plane
and
said
an
airline
employee
informed
them
that
they
were
removed
because
a
flight
attendant
complained
about
a
passenger’s
body
odor.
The
men
feel
their
removal
from
the
flight
was
solely
due
to
their
race.
The
lawsuit
filed
by
Public
Citizen,
a
consumer-advocacy
group
founded
by
Ralph
Nader,
says
American
Airlines
offered
to
rebook
their
flights
but
allowed
the
men
back
on
the
plane
after
it
was
clear
there
were
no
other
flights
to
New
York.
American
Airlines
Is
Investigating
The
Incident
Susan
Huhta,
an
employment
law
attorney
in
Washington,
D.C.,
who
is
representing
the
three
men,
said,
“If
American
Airlines
received
a
complaint
about
a
Black
male
passenger
with
offensive
body
odor
but
could
not
verify
the
complaint,
the
solution
should
not
have
been
to
eject
eight
separate
Black
men
from
the
plane.”
“We
take
all
claims
of
discrimination
very
seriously
and
want
our
customers
to
have
a
positive
experience
when
they
choose
to
fly
with
us,”
American
Airlines
said
in
a
statement.
“Our
teams
are
currently
investigating
the
matter,
as
the
claims
do
not
reflect
our
core
values
or
our
purpose
of
caring
for
people.”
This
latest
incident
comes
after
American
Airlines
said
they
would
make
changes
after
the
NAACP
issued
a
warning
in
2017
to
Black
travelers
about
booking
flights
with
the
airline
due
to
several
African
American
passengers
saying
they
experienced
racial
discrimination.
