American Airlines endorses federal job protections for gays and lesbians

American Airlines announced today that it formally submitted a letter to U.S. Congressional leaders in Washington, DC, stating its continued support for passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to provide federal job protections for gays and lesbians.

American Airlines was the first airline to endorse ENDA; originally communicating its support of ENDA to Congress in 2008 and 2009. In its current letter of endorsement, American Airlines states:

“On behalf of our 80,000 employees, American Airlines is proud to express our strong support for S. 811 and H.R. 1397, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would extend basic job protections to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans. We are proud to have been the first major airline to implement same-sex domestic partner benefits, first to implement both sexual orientation and gender identity in our workplace non-discrimination policies, and first to have a recognized LGBT employee resource group – GLEAM.

“Our endorsement of ENDA is consistent with our longstanding ‘Statement of Equal Opportunity.’ The principles fostered by ENDA are consistent with our corporate principles in treating all employees with fairness and respect.”