American Airlines Celebrates 15 Years With Perfect

FORT WORTH, Texas, Dec. 05, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American Airlines has been honored once again by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) with the highest possible rating in the prestigious 2017 Corporate Equality Index (CEI). American was the only airline to achieve a perfect score when the CEI launched in 2002, and is one of only a handful of corporations to do so every year since.

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

“American Airlines takes inspiration from the ideals of the Corporate Equality Index,” said Patrick O'Keeffe, American’s vice president – PSS & Corporate Technology and the co-executive sponsor of the airline’s Pride Employee Business Resource Group (EBRG). “This milestone reflects our employees’ longstanding dedication to diversity, inclusion and equality throughout the company – and to serving our loyal LGBT customers every day. We are grateful to the Human Rights Campaign for this recognition.”

American has a long history of commitment to the LGBT community in the course of doing business. For decades, American’s Pride EBRG, which also was the airline’s first employee resource group, has championed LGBT travelers as well as diversity, equality and respect throughout the travel industry. American is also a proud member and supporter of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, PFLAG and Lambda Legal.

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 LGBT 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  one world ^® 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 .

Corporate Communications 817-967-1577 mediarelations@aa.com