engineering
American Airlines:
A History of Diversity
A
merican Airlines understands the attract and retain high performing, cre- fits to same-sex partners of gay and
rich mixture of cultures and ative employees. lesbian employees. American was also
backgrounds represented by its At American, diversity is recog- the first major airline to add both sexu-
employees, customers and suppliers – nized as a strategic business imperative al orientation and gender identity into
as well as the growing number of inter- and philosophy that is strongly its workplace nondiscrimination poli-
national destinations it serves. Diversi- embraced. Diversity engagement is cies, and the first major airline to have
ty and corporate citizenship initiatives reflected across the company in Spe- a recognized LGBT Employee
are woven into the fabric of the busi- cialty Sales, Advertising/Promotion, Resource Group. Formed in 1994, the
ness and are seen as a way of life. Each Corporate Communications, in Pur- group’s mission is to engage manage-
employee is responsible for imple- chasing’s Diversified Supplier Pro- ment and reach out to allies in other
menting American’s diversity philoso- gram, through Employee Resource employee groups and integrate the
phy of promoting inclusion, and creat- Groups, the Diversity Advisory Coun- principles of fairness, acceptance and
ing an environment where all differ- cil and the Minority Legal Counsel diversity into all company policies and
ences are valued, and where employees Program. programs. American publicly supports
can develop to their full potential. Diversity best practices at American the Employment Non Discrimination
Diversity has long been embraced at Airlines include leadership hiring tar- Act.
American Airlines, which has pio- gets, diversity training, the develop-
neered a number of diversity-based ini- ment of Employee Resource Group Customers
tiatives over its 80-year history. In fact, networks, and discussions of diversity American also embraces to better
American’s diversity philosophy has at the highest levels of the company. understand its customers, suppliers and
been overwhelming beneficial to its Today, American Airlines has several the community as a whole. By utilizing
business and its employees, customers, African-American, Hispanic, Asian- the perspectives of various ERGs and
suppliers and the communities it American and female mid-level and the large number of diverse employees,
serves. senior executives. American is able to successfully
American also has the distinction of enhance the customer experience given
Employees being the first major airline to hire a the different expectations, experiences,
Given American’s operations around female pilot, in 1973, and the first to and backgrounds of its customers. This
the world, its workforce is quite have a female captain, in1986. In fact, is to maintaining global competitive-
diverse, and this includes different per- the company’s first Women in Aviation ness. A number of initiatives are in
spectives, ideas and various cultures Employee Resource Group was estab- progress to enhance the overall cus-
and beliefs. While most companies lished in 1996 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Its tomer experience for travelers who fly
make a distinction between their diver- mission is to promote hiring, profes- with American, and a series of market-
sity and corporate citizenship initia- sional development and promotional ing programs are under way that are
tives, American has developed an inno- opportunities for women in aviation. tailored specifically to appeal to key
vative strategy that leverages its diver- For more than a decade, American diverse customer segments. In January
sity, corporate citizenship and commu- Airlines has been a pioneer in imple- 2008, American developed an industry
nity involvement company-wide to menting fair-minded policies and prac- first robust diversity and inclusion
enhance the work environment, pro- tices for its lesbian, gay, bisexual and page on
AA.com. The link promotes
curement, advertising, sales and mar- transgendered (LGBT) customers and American’s diversity efforts in supplier
keting. Consistently recognized as a employees. American was the first diversity, employees, diversity leader-
leader in its employee policies for major airline to implement same-sex ship, awards and recognition, corporate
inclusiveness and fairness, American’s domestic partner benefits, offering citizenship and on-going marketing
policies have helped the company equal health, pension and travel bene- initiatives. American also has products
42 Celebrating over 15 Years of Embracing Diversity WWW.HNMAGAZINE.COM
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