Source: American Airlines

Over the past year, we have become more intentional in our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) efforts. As leaders, we strive to do and be better, and we are focused on creating a positive and equitable culture for our team members and, in turn, our customers, because we know it makes our company stronger. In 2021, team member feedback helped us deepen our focus on the journey ahead. Importantly, we have set goals for our leaders and are measuring progress regularly because we know what gets measured gets done. Our success will help make our culture a competitive advantage.

Over the course of hundreds of listening sessions, we’ve heard concerns and taken action on a range of issues impacting team members, including standing up for protections against discrimination.
  • The Community Council, comprised of seven distinguished Black leaders, has helped inform our work around customer experience, representation, pipeline development and supplier diversity, and we are grateful for their candid feedback, thought leadership and time.
  • Engaging our Black customers. In 2022, customers will see more Black representation in our dining, inflight products and entertainment offerings. In addition, we launched partnerships with ESSENCE and Blavity, hired Walter Isaacson as our multicultural agency of record, and aim to better connect with Black travelers with a newly formed Black Customer Steering Committee, an internal team focused on the travel experience.
  • Advocating for rights. We joined Texas Competes to support the inclusion of LGBTQ in non-discrimination laws and full civil rights protections. We continue to advocate for the Equality Act, legislation that would add non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people in civil rights laws. We’ve voiced our opposition to voting legislation in Texas and similar bills, which we believe should make it easier to vote, not harder.
  • Updating workplace policy. American proudly supports the CROWN Act legislation — Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair — to prohibit discrimination based on hair texture and style. While the CROWN Act is law in eight states, until it is a law everywhere, American’s policies will continue to ensure all of our team members are protected.

Learning is a critical part of our life-long journey and we’re committed to providing our teams with the tools they need to take care of our customers. In 2021 alone we:

  • Launched Inclusive Workplace training in January to underscore why diversity, equity and inclusion are core values at American; more than 90,000 team members have taken the course so far.
  • Unveiled the Inclusion Education Series, a new web-based training series designed to help each of us become an upstander, in September. The first course focuses on how we can recognize when something is wrong, act to make it right and better understand microaggressions.

We recognize that representation matters, and we must be intentional about the recruitment, advancement and retention of diverse talent. We also recognize we have responsibility to identify and address opportunity gaps that exist for our team members.

  • Increasing representation. We will continue to annually review representation data and identify multi- year companywide diversity goals for any underrepresented positions. In January, we set goals around Black representation and retention, and we met those goals by December:
    • Increased Black representation at the director and above level by 50% versus 2020; retained at least 90% of these leaders.
    • Increased L5/L6 Black representation by 20% versus 2020; retained at least 75% of Black management and support staff.
  • Ensuring pay equity. American is one of six companies to receive Fair Pay Workplace’s inaugural pay equity certification to ensure equitable pay regardless of gender or race. Nearly 85% of our team members are represented by unions and have built-in pay equity, so we have taken steps to review and ensure pay equity across our management and support staff teams.
  • Developing future leaders. Last year, we launched the Executive Sponsorship Program (ESP) for Black D+ leaders and will broaden ESP’s reach in 2022. We also partnered with McKinsey to offer our Black, Hispanic and Asian leaders the opportunity to participate in their Leadership Academies.
  • Recruiting diverse talent. American joined Rep. Alma Adam’s HBCU Partnership Challenge to create more opportunities for HBCU students and graduates entering in the workplace. We are focused on expanding our Cadet Academy to ensure prospective pilots, particularly people of color and women, have access to the support needed to enter the profession.

We know our work here is not done, and we are energized by the road ahead.
In 2022, we will become programmatic in our approach and build in accountability by level around driving diversity, equity and inclusion excellence at American because it makes our company better. Our 2022 goals will continue to focus on representation and retention and drive more engagement across the enterprise. We will hire and retain the best and brightest talent, ensure the diversity of our team reflects the diversity of our customers and provide opportunities for the next generation of aviators. As the world’s largest airline, we will continue to strive to create a culture of inclusion where are all team members and customers feel valued and welcome.