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Airlines Among Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality

Business People Cabin Crew Transportation Airplane Concept

The Human Rights Campaign has once again given a handful of the largest U.S. airlines perfect scores in its annual survey rating companies on issues of inclusiveness and equality in the workplace.

When the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) yearly Corporate Equality Index (CEI) was published for the first time in 2002, only 13 businesses earned perfect scores, meeting all of the criteria to be named a “Best Place to Work for LGBT Equality.” In the recently released 2016 edition of the report, 407 companies earned top scores.

HRC President Chad Griffin attributes the surge in companies earning perfect scores to a major shift in attitudes towards LGBT workers over the last decade. “Today, businesses no longer reserve basic workplace fairness for part of their workforce, but are instead making protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity consistent across their global operations,” Griffin wrote introducing the 2016 report. “This is not only a great step forward for the LGBT movement, but for the entire world.”

In the years since the fist CEI was released in 2002, the aviation industry has been a leader in the shift towards more inclusive workplaces. American Airlines was among those original 13 companies ranked as “Best Places to Work” and the airline has earned the honor every year since.

“We are dedicated to living up to the ideals of the Corporate Equality Index,” American Airlines Vice President Elise Eberwein said in a statement. “Our commitment begins first and always with the employees who serve as champions for diversity, equality and respect within the company – and who warmly welcome our loyal LGBT customers every day.”

Over the past 14 years, the rest of the industry has come to embrace that sentiment as well. United Airlines earned a perfect 100 percent CEI score for the fifth year in a row. Southwest Airlines earned a “Best Place to Work” rating for the first time in the most recent report. JetBlue and Alaska Airlines continued a string of perfect ratings this year, while Delta Airlines, Virgin America and Skywest Airlines each fell just short with scores of 95 percent.

[Image via Getty]

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Sydneyberlin November 26, 2015

I've never had a problem on American, neither when traveling by myself nor when being with my same sex partner. Which is in very stark contrast to United where we've both experiences outrageously homophobic acts by fellow passengers which were even endorsed by cabin crew. So American, as a very frequent traveler and openly gay man, I applaud you for this!

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Himeno November 20, 2015

Really American? Then why did you repeatedly alter the 'title' on my bookings at check in and misgender me despite clearly seeing the correct gender marker on my passport?