American Airlines CEO Robert Isom revealed the company’s plans to “rebuild trust” in the business organization after a number of Black passengers were bumped off a flight due to complaints of an alleged foul odor.
In a letter to employees on Tuesday, Isom noted the importance of addressing what he called as an “unacceptable incident,” referring to the removal of the eight Black passengers from the plane temporarily before they were allowed to re-board the plane.
“I am incredibly disappointed by what happened on that flight and the breakdown of our procedures,” Isom stated in the letter. “It contradicts our values, what we stand for, who we are and our purpose of caring for people on life’s journey. We fell short of our commitments and failed our customers in this incident.”
A lawsuit was filed in May by three of the eight Black passengers who were removed from the Jan. 5 flight from Phoenix to New York The three men were said to be strangers to each other but were seated together on the plane.
A representative of American Airlines then approached each of them and were told to get off the plane, The Hill reported. There was allegedly no explanation made by the airline representative.
Video recordings of the incident showed that the eight Black passengers who were removed from the plane were asking for a reason behind the treatment. There were also men who accused the airline representatives as being discriminatory towards the said passengers.
Accordingly, when passengers asked the staff why they were removed, there was allegedly a white male flight attendant who complained about a body odor of an unidentified passenger. After an hour delay, the airline got them re-boarded since there were no other flights available to rebook them.
The complaint noted that during an earlier flight from Los Angeles to Phoenix, flight attendants did not mention anything about an offensive odor, CBS News reported.
Isom’s letter noted the steps that the airline would be taking following the incident. “Be assured that we are steadfast in our commitment to working with the NAACP and other civil rights organizations to learn from this incident, listen to and rebuild trust with you, our team members, and our Black customers, and to delivering the best possible experience with American,” it stated.
