DALLAS  — American Airlines put an unspecified number of employees on leave for their involvement in an incident in which several black passengers were removed from a flight in Phoenix, allegedly over a complaint about body odour.

American CEO Robert Isom wrote in a note to staff that the incident was unacceptable. “I am incredibly disappointed by what happened on that flight and the breakdown of our procedures,” Isom said in the note this week. “It contradicts our values. … We fell short of our commitments and failed our customers in this incident.”

Three black passengers sued the airline last month, charging that they were removed from the January flight because of racial discrimination. They said they were told that a white male flight attendant had complained about an unidentified passenger’s body odour. The men said they did not know each other and were seated separately while waiting for the plane to depart for New York. The three said they were among eight passengers – all the black men on the flight, they said – who were told to leave the plane. (Jamaica-gleaner)…[+]