American Airlines takes pride in its name, and holds itself to a high standard in the area of diversity. When an airline operates more than 3,400 flights to destinations in more than 40 countries around the world each day, it pays to be diverse.
“Diversity is the fabric of our company,” notes Gary Kennedy, the senior vice president, general counsel, and chief compliance offi cer of American Airlines, Inc. The corporation’s record backs up the claim: From hiring the industry’s fi rst African American fl ight attendant in 1963 and the fi rst female commercial pilot in 1973, to the creation of a supplier diversity program in the 1980s and the diverse segment–sales team in the 90s, American Airlines has had a long history of diversity leadership that shows no signs of being grounded anytime soon.
Gaining an appreciation for what distinguishes American Airlines and its lawyers from other in–house legal departments begins with recognizing the circumstances that American has confronted in the past few years. The airline industry has endured unprecedented turmoil during that time, including terrorist attacks, public health epidemics, the conflict in Iraq, runaway oil prices, the current economic crisis, and the bankruptcies of many industry giants (among them United, Delta, Northwest, and U.S. Airways). Despite these pressures, American Airlines in particular has remained true to its goals, including its diversity practices.
Like most large corporations, much of the airline’s legal work is outsourced to firms. The company not only monitors the hours billed by minorities and women attorneys; it also examines minority attorneys serving in leadership roles within those firms. “We ask about diversity at all levels,” Kennedy explains. “We want to know about the minority associates working on our cases, but we also want to know about the partnership level. Are minority partners handling our cases? We want to see diversity in the partnership ranks.”
American Airlines assesses firms by examining metrics. As Kennedy shares, “We issue report cards. Those firms that need to make improvements are expected to change things.” But, he cautions, sometimes it takes time for that effort to show fruit: “If we see that they are hiring more minority or women attorneys, we view that positively, even if they don’t [yet] have a diverse staff.”
The company’s diversity–outreach strategies are continuing to evolve. For example, American Airlines has begun a partnership with Texas Wesleyan University as part of the school’s Street Law Program, which sends attorneys and law students to public schools to teach students about the law.
Is American taking its eye off diversity during the economic downtown? “Absolutely not — diversity is a core value, and our focus on diversity is crucial to our business. We still have the same focus, even if it means we may experience less growth than [we would] under better economic conditions,”Kennedy concludes. “Winning the Employer of Choice award does not change what we do, but it is good to be recognized. It is our hope that law firms will realize how much diversity means to us, and take appropriate action to build and retain diverse teams.” DB
From the November/December 2009 issue of Diversity & The Bar®