‘Sorry’ Just Isn’t Enough

American Airlines says it regrets its outrageous stereotyping of Latin Americans in a flight manual, but an apology is not enough. The harm needs to be reversed by deeds.

The matter came up during court hearings involving a 1995 plane crash in Colombia. A manual, “Latin American Pilot Reference Guide,” was presented in evidence and thus made public. It is full of culturally insensitive references and stereotypes, describing Latin Americans as noisy people who “like to drink before takeoff” and expect their planes to be late. A particularly obnoxious section called “Survival in Latin America” says the passengers “expect not to depart on time. In fact, it’s rumored that they will call in a false bomb threat to delay a departure if they think they’ll be late.”

American Airlines said the manual was written after the company bought Latin American air routes from Eastern Airlines in 1989 and that it will be rewritten. That is a lukewarm re- sponse at best, and it is no surprise that some U.S. Latino groups, incensed by the disclosure, are demanding more and threatening to boycott the airline.

To lend credence to the apology, American Airlines should publicize what concrete actions it will take to root out the prejudice that led to the writing of such a “reference guide.”