Earlier this week, the NAACP issued a travel advisory warning travelers to be cautious when traveling on American Airlines, because they could face discrimination or even safety issues.

At first, American Airlines CEO Doug Parker did not believe that his airlines was guilty of such allegations.

According to the Associated Press, Parker said his initial reaction to the news was, "How can that be true of us?,” firm in his belief that his airline had “a diverse and open environment and organization.”

But for many — including the NAACP — that is not the case. The NAACP has cited four recent incidents where black people were allegedly mistreated because of their race. 

In past few years, the airline has dealt with a slew of discrimination cases. 

Since 2016, passengers who flew on American have filed 29 complaints of racial discrimination with the federal government. Other airlines have had similar complaints filed against them as well, but none have had as many as American. The airline with the second most complaints has 17.

Perhaps with this in mind, Parker began to see the advisory as a good thing, as a chance to improve.

“Once you get past that, this is a fantastic opportunity because we want to get better,” Parker told reporters during a call to discuss the company’s latest financial results. “If the NAACP wants to talk to us and wants to help us get better, we are excited about that.”

Critics of Parker's newfound embrace of the NAACP claim that the CEO is only pretending to take the news well in order to avoid any financial backlash. Although that is a real possibility, Parker disputes this claim. 

“We haven’t seen anything," he said, noting that sales seem to be stable, "But that is not the point. The work we’re doing … is not about whether or not it has a financial impact on our company.”

American Airlines is more diverse than say, Apple or Uber or Facebook, with 15 percent of its workforce identifying as black. The company doesn't break down that number by role; however, the Labor Department has found that only about three percent of airline pilots are black, suggesting that there is not only room for improvement with customer relations, but in the employee ranks as well.

For its part, the NAACP has made it clear that its advisory is not a boycott.

“We’re not telling people don’t do or to do, but we want people to have the necessary education to be informed about how they leverage their dollars,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson said.