Advocacy group America First Legal (AFL) is taking action against three major U.S. airlines for discriminating against employees on the basis of race and sex, calling for suspending their federal contracts.
Executive Order 11246 mandates that federal contractors who do business worth over $10,000 with the government in a year do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin when employing people.
The three airlines have contracts with the federal government and have collected millions of dollars over many years, thus requiring them to abide by the order.
However, the companies allegedly engaged in racial and sex discrimination in hiring under the guise of diversity initiatives, preferring women and individuals from minority communities in certain jobs, according to AFL. It asked OFCCP to investigate the companies for breach of contractual obligations under federal contracting law.
“Corporations that brazenly and illegally put race and sex above skill and merit should be prepared to face the consequences, and their federal contracts should be suspended or terminated for blatant violations of their contractual terms,” the advocacy said.
“Americans should be able to board a plane confident that their pilot, crew, and any involved parties are hired because they are the best candidates for the job, not because they fulfill arbitrary and racist hiring quotas. AFL will not cease in its fight for equality.”
In November, AFL filed federal civil rights complaints against the three airlines with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, citing similar concerns.
On its website, American Airlines says that the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are “foundational to the American Airlines culture and are embedded into the fabric of who we are as a company.”
This included assisting “black youth in developing job skills and expanding access to well-paying careers as part of our overall strategy to expand opportunities in our hub cities and Tulsa.”
“In other words, American Airlines implemented overtly discriminatory hiring practices based on the race or color of the individuals involved,” the AFL complaint stated.
The company partnered with McKinsey to offer “Black, Hispanic, and Asian leaders the opportunity to participate in their Leadership Academies.”
United and Southwest
AFL alleges that Southwest Airlines has received nearly $330 million from thousands of federal government contracts and yet persists in violating Executive Order 11246.“Since at least 2020, Southwest has engaged in discriminatory hiring and promotion processes under the guise of creating ‘more diverse, equitable, and inclusive opportunities and candidate pipelines,’” AFL stated.
“In 2022, of our more than 18,000 New Hires, 63 percent were racially diverse, increasing our overall racial diversity from 40 percent in 2021 to 44 percent. Additionally, 51 percent were women, increasing our gender diversity from 43 percent in 2021 to 44 percent,” the report said.
“Among Senior Leadership (Directors and Senior Directors), racial diversity increased from 15 percent to 17 percent and gender diversity has increased from 33 percent to 37 percent. ... Since 2020, we increased the racial diversity of our Senior Management Committee (SMC) Members by two percentage points.”
These statements are proof that Southwest Airlines “appears to be unlawfully considering sex, race, and color in its hiring practices,” AFL said in its complaint against the company.
Regarding United Airlines, the advocacy group noted that it had received over $150 million in federal contracts and that there is evidence of the company violating equal opportunity requirements.
“Increasing diversity among pilots accordingly entails refusing to consider or hire qualified nonminority pilots,” AFL said in the complaint.
Between December 2020 and December 2022, the company’s U.S. workforce saw a “3 percent increase in representation of women and 6 percent increase in representation of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups,” according to the report.
DEI ‘Destroying Objective Merit’
Gene Hamilton, general counsel and vice president of America First Legal, said the diversity quotas established by the three airlines are “wrong,” calling for such initiatives to be stopped.“When you board a plane, the last thing you care about is the skin color of the pilot and crew onboard. The only thing that matters is getting from point A to point B safely—yet these airlines apparently think that one of the most critical things they can do is discriminate against employees and potential employees based on race. It’s absurd,” he said in a statement.
“Major corporations think that it’s okay to have ‘goals’ for the demographic makeup of their workforces, with no self-awareness of the illegal practices that they will undoubtedly take to achieve those goals.”
“Do you want to fly in an airplane where they prioritized DEI hiring over your safety? That is actually happening,” billionaire Elon Musk said in a Jan. 11 post on X, formerly Twitter.
Author James Lindsay insisted that DEI was “never about proportionate representation.” Instead, it is about “destroying objective merit.”
The Epoch Times contacted United Airlines, American Airlines, and Southwest Airlines for comment.
