American Airlines Receives Top 25 Diversity Council Honors

For the third consecutive year, American Airlines is a recipient of the Diversity Council Honors Award™ from the Association of Diversity Councils, which recognizes companies for outstanding achievements in demonstrating workplace diversity. American was the sole airline to be listed as having one of the nation’s top 25 diversity councils.

 

“We are extremely proud to see this recognition of our Diversity Advisory Council and the tremendous leadership it provides – not only its support of our ongoing inclusion efforts, but also in addressing business challenges,” said Lauri Curtis, American’s Vice President of Diversity, Leadership and Engagement Strategies. “We know from experience that none of us is as powerful and effective as all of us working together. While it’s important to be inclusive and value diversity because it’s the right thing to do, the results also prove that it is very good for business. Diversity and inclusion are among American’s fundamental values, and we are honored that ours is again among the nation’s top 25 diversity councils.”

 

Curtis noted that American strives to create an environment where each employee’s unique experience, perspectives and ideas are encouraged and valued. “At American Airlines, we are energized by our global and diverse workforce,” she added. “We are dedicated not only to advancing matters of equality and inclusion, but to supporting and celebrating them.”

 

The Diversity Council Honors Awards program distinguishes corporate diversity councils that lead diversity processes in organizations and demonstrate results in their workforce, workplace and marketplace. Winners’ rankings will be announced at an awards dinner and ceremony in Atlanta on April 5.

 

American Airlines introduces gay friendly enhancements to website

American Airlines recently introduced several new gay customer-friendly enhancements to its award-winning website, AA.com.

The improvements provide all site visitors more personalized and convenient experiences when searching or booking travel on AA.com. And for the first time, these updates will invite American Airlins' GLBT AAdvantage customers to safely and personally receive travel news, special offers, event updates, and promotions tailored for their needs.


George Carrancho, Manager – American’s Rainbow TeAAm (pictured) said, “In 2006, we became the first airline to launch our own dedicated Rainbow travel page at www.aa.com/rainbow as a friendly way to engage our customers and provide them with valuable travel offers and news on popular LGBT events and destinations. Through our profile registration upgrades, we now ask our customers’ consent to express their interests and to allow us to extend a more enjoyable, personal connection through our popular AAdvantage program. This is our next, giant step forward to enhance our relationships while also making it simpler and more convenient for many.”

“This innovation demonstrates American’s continued commitment to welcoming all customers and its focus on providing customized communications,” said Betty Young, American’s Director – Diverse Segment Marketing. “We are inviting our customers to deepen their relationship with us so we can become more engaged with each other and better serve them.”

American Airlines remains the first and only U.S. airline to earn a 100 percent perfect score over the past nine years on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index – a ranking given to America’s top companies for their fair-minded and inclusive policies and employment practices.

Read more after the jump.


Enhancements on AA.com include:

Preferred Travel Interests in My Account
The Preferred Travel Interests enhancement to My Account allows AAdvantage members to select preferred Travel Destinations, Travel Products, and Travel Interests. In turn, members will receive fare alerts and special offers customized to match their selected preferences. American is the first U.S.-based airline to offer this type of customization as well as the first innovator to include this personalization for its LGBT customers among others.

Personal Travel Documentation in My Account
AAdvantage members no longer need to add their travel documentation each time they make reservations for international travel. Now customers have the option to store and maintain travel documentation in their personal profile. Once stored, the customer’s travel documentation will be added to future international reservations.

Expanded Lowest Price Guarantee and AAdvantage Miles
American is now offering a lowest price guarantee on flights, hotels, cars, cruises and activities booked at AA.com, while at the same time allowing customers to earn AAdvantage miles on all five products.

AA.com is the first and only U. S.-based airline website to offer customers the ability to earn miles on all travel products, including flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises, and activity purchases – all with a lowest price guarantee.


Did you know American Airlines offers discounted rates to gay events?

Now you do! Click here - LGBT Community Events - for a list of events (PrideFests, Lambda Literary Awards, Gay Games, you get the gist) and the promotional codes you need to get the gay rate.

 

You can get more information from the American Airlines Rainbow Team, the only gay-dedicated sales team in the airline industry.

American Airlines to be awarded Elizabeth Birch Equality Award

American Airlines will receive this year’s Elizabeth Birch Equality Award, co-chairs of the 2010 Black Tie Dinner announced recently. Airline executives will attend the 29th annual Black Tie Dinner to receive the prestigious award. The Dinner will be held on Saturday evening, November 6, 2009, at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel. Past recipients of the Birch award include Showtime Networks/Robert Greenblatt, Alan Cumming, Sharon Stone, Bishop V. Gene Robinson and, last year, Judy Shepard.

“We are deeply honored to accept this special award and look forward to this year’s Black Tie Dinner so much,” said Denise Lynn, American Airlines’ Vice President of Diversity & Leadership Strategies. “There is no greater embrace than that given by your hometown, and receiving the Elizabeth Birch Award will only magnify the pride we take in being part of the inclusive and welcoming fabric that makes up the people of Dallas and Fort Worth and the lives of all our employees.”

American Airlines boasts a long list of industry firsts: the first major airline to implement same-sex domestic partner benefits; the first to implement both sexual orientation and gender identity in its workplace nondiscrimination policies; the first to endorse the Employment Non-Discrimination Act; the first to have a company-recognized LGBT employee resource group, GLEAM; and the first to launch a dedicated LGBT-specific website, www.aa.com/rainbow.

Gay is good for business

Betty Young, the out director of diverse segment marketing for American Airlines, touts the benefits of developing inclusive sales efforts to reach various constituencies that are backed by equally inclusive workplace anti-discrimination and benefits policies.

"We are instilling a more enduring sense of loyalty and commitment and helping to motivate our LGBT employees to be all we can be and to bring our whole identity to work," Young writes in a recent article for Portfolio.com.