A group of 18 former student pilots sued Fort Worth-based American Airlines this week, alleging the company misled them and racially discriminated against them while they were enrolled in a flight training program.
The federal lawsuit, filed Tuesday in a federal court in San Diego by a group of plaintiffs who identify as Black, Asian or Latino accused the airlines of offering them fewer training opportunities than their white peers, grading them harsher, subjecting them to derogatory comments, and putting them on remedial tracks that led them to quit the program. That left several plaintiffs in debt, the suit claims.
The suit also accuses the airlines of “reverse redlining” when it targeted minority groups to enroll in a program they were unlikely to complete and three times more likely to be removed or forced to resign compared to white cadets…