FORT WORTH, Texas – American Airlines has been recognized for the 17th year in a row as a leader among U.S. companies in LGBTQ workplace policies by receiving the highest rating from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) in the 2019 Corporate Equality Index (CEI). American was the only airline to achieve a perfect score when the CEI launched in 2002 and continues to be one of only a handful of corporations to have received it every year since.

The CEI is a nationally recognized benchmark that evaluates America’s top workplaces and their inclusion of LGBTQ employees and their allies. Companies like American that earn the top CEI score of 100 percent are also named the “Best Places to Work” in the U.S.

“American was the first major U.S. airline to protect our LGBTQ team members by including gender identity and sexual orientation in our workplace nondiscrimination policies,” said Patrick O’Keeffe, Senior Vice President of People for American. “We also know that customers have many choices when it comes to travel, and that’s why we were the first major airline to launch a dedicated LGBTQ sales team and include LGBTQ-owned businesses in our supplier diversity program.”

O’Keeffe serves as a co-executive sponsor of American’s Pride Employee Business Resource Group (EBRG), which was formed in 1994 as the first company-recognized LGTBQ resource group at an airline. Pride’s mission is to work with company leadership and to reach out to allies and other team member groups to embrace the principles of fairness, acceptance and diversity in all company policies and programs.

“We understand how deeply important it is to embrace diversity and inclusion in our society. It’s been deeply ingrained in our culture over many decades,” said Suzanne Boda, Senior Vice President of Los Angeles for American and also a co-executive sponsor of the Pride EBRG. “I’m proud to know that American Airlines will continue doing our part in partnership with the Human Rights Campaign to support the LGBTQ community and further the causes of diversity and inclusion.”

Earlier this month, American Airlines reaffirmed its commitment to the HRC’s Business Coalition for the Equality Act. American joined more than 160 businesses in support of comprehensive non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people in our nation's civil rights laws.

American also has a long history of commitment to the LGBTQ community in the course of doing business. Today, American serves as a national sponsor of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, Lambda Legal, PFLAG and the North Texas LGBT Chamber of Commerce.

The Human Rights Campaign is dedicated to promoting and ensuring public understanding of LGBTQ issues through innovative education and communication strategies. A complete list of CEI rankings is available at hrc.org.

For more information on American’s commitment to diversity and the LGBTQ community, visit aa.com/diversity.

About American Airlines Group
American Airlines and American Eagle offer an average of nearly 6,700 flights per day to nearly 350 destinations in more than 50 countries. American has hubs in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Washington, D.C. American is a founding member of the oneworld® alliance, whose members serve more than 1,000 destinations with about 14,250 daily flights to over 150 countries. Shares of American Airlines Group Inc. trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol AAL. In 2015, its stock joined the S&P 500 index. Connect with American on Twitter @AmericanAir and at Facebook.com/AmericanAirlines.