Flying While Black
American Airlines Reaches New Low in Removing Black Passengers
“We were discriminated against. The entire situation was racist,” — passenger Xavier Veal.
In January 2024, eight passengers on Flight 832 from Phoenix to New York were Black men. All of them were asked to get off the plane due to what flight attendants described as “offensive body odor.” Three of the men had been on an earlier American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Phoenix, where no similar complaint had been made. The men didn’t know each other and weren’t seated together. It was coincidental, apparently, that every Black man was asked to leave the plane.
The three men from Los Angeles weren’t having it. One filmed the incident, and the three sued American Airlines, claiming racial discrimination. The video allegedly backs up their claim that race was a factor in their removal. When no other flights to New York had seats available, the passengers were reboarded after an hour’s delay.
CEO Robert Isom sent a letter to American Airlines employees, taking responsibility and stating the need to do better.
“I am incredibly disappointed by what happened on that flight and the breakdown of our procedures. We fell short of our commitments and failed…
