AMERICAN AIRLINES HONORS AFRICAN-AMERICAN AVIATION PIONEERS
WITH VIRTUAL MUSEUM


BlacksinAviation.com Explores Chapter in American History

American Airlines has a new virtual museum, BlacksinAviation.com, that explores the history of African Americans in aviation from pre-civil rights to the present. The virtual museum highlights the challenges and accomplishments of African-American aviation professionals, including the struggle for racial equality in commercial airlines, the military and aerospace.
The virtual museum is a Web site that provides profiles, video interviews, photos, and historical documents on trailblazers such as the first African American flight attendant, the first African American pilot of a major airline, members of The Tuskegee Airmen and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, who was chosen to lead the aerospace agency in 2008.

By launching Blacks in Aviation, American continues its legacy of bringing aviation career opportunities to students. Today, American has several programs designed to expose students to aviation careers. College students majoring in Aviation Studies may apply to the airline’s Pilot Internship Program, and the American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum holds a summer camp for kids in grades 5-8. The airline also participates each year in Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals’ Aviation Career Education (ACE) Camp, which introduces middle and high school children to aviation careers.
The Blacks In Aviation videos will be provided on DVD to local schools for classroom viewing, and American Airlines and American Eagle pilots who volunteer at schools will use these videos during Black History Month and throughout the year.
Each week during Black History Month, new video interviews will be added to the virtual museum.