Thousands of American Airlines staff will be trained to better identify potential human traffickers and victims after the US carrier confirmed it was joining the government’s Blue Lightning Initiative (BLI).
Working with the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection (CBP) American Airlines staff will increase their knowledge to recognize the indicators of human trafficking and take appropriate action.
“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 training offered by BLI will be part of a company-provided training for American’s flight attendants, pilots, customer service representatives and other team members.
In total, American currently trains an upwards of 70,000 team members each year on human trafficking and how to spot it.
Prior to joining BLI, American was in partnership with the Blue Campaign, which is now a part of the DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking, a national public awareness effort to educate the public, law enforcement and industry partners about human trafficking.
“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 announcement on January 10, 2024, came during National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, which has ran since 2010 in the US.
There are estimated to be more than 27.6 million people — adults and children — subjected to human trafficking around the world, including in the US.