American Airlines announced it is expanding its collaboration with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) by becoming a member of the Blue Lightning Initiative (BLI). This effort focuses on training airline and aviation personnel, ensuring they have the tools to better identify potential traffickers and victims.
“The Blue Lightning Initiative is a key element in the federal government’s fight against the scourge of human trafficking,” said American’s Vice President of Corporate Security Gary Tomasulo. “American has long partnered with law enforcement to help fight human trafficking, and we are proud to deepen our partnership by joining the initiative.”
“The U.S. Department of Transportation is proud to partner with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and American Airlines to train aviation personnel on how to recognize indicators of and report human trafficking suspicions.” said Julie Abraham, Director of the Office of International Transportation and Trade, U.S. Department of Transportation. “This partnership highlights the commitment of airlines to combat human trafficking in the aviation sector and spread awareness to members of the traveling public.
The training offered by BLI will be part of a company-provided training for tens of thousands of American’s flight attendants, pilots, customer service representatives and other team members to recognize the indicators of human trafficking and take appropriate action. In total, American trains an upwards of 70,000 team members each year on this topic.