American Airlines — Ethics Grade C

American Airlines receives an overall ethics grade of C (55/100) on CancelCo's corporate accountability database. Sector: Transportation. Market cap: Large Cap.

Category scores

• labor: 55
• privacy: 80
• consumer: 40
• environment: 45
• humanRights: 35

Documented incidents (3)

• Racial Profiling Incident (high, 2024) — Eight Black men were removed from a flight after a crew member complained of body odor. A lawsuit alleged discrimination as the men did not know each other and were only targeted due to their race; the airline later suspended the crew members.
• Wheelchair Damage Complaints (medium, 2023) — Federal data showed American Airlines had some of the highest rates of mishandling or damaging motorized wheelchairs, causing significant hardship and loss of mobility for passengers with disabilities.
• Misleading Carbon Offset Claims (medium, 2021) — The airline faced criticism regarding the transparency of its carbon offset programs, with reports suggesting the offsets were not as effective as advertised in neutralizing long-haul flight emissions.

Documented good deeds

• Sustainable Aviation Fuel Purchase — American Airlines made a significant commitment to purchase 500 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel over five years to reduce its operational carbon footprint.

Ethical alternatives

• Alaska Airlines — Better record for customer service and internal sustainability metrics.