NEW: Major Airline Caves, Canceling DEI Agenda

Southwest Airlines has agreed to cease certain employment practices after federal scrutiny, signaling a shift in its approach to workplace equity. The Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) confirmed this decision in a letter to America First Legal (AFL), the organization that initially filed a complaint alleging violations of federal contracting rules.

At the heart of the controversy was Southwest’s compliance with Executive Order 11246, which prohibits federal contractors from engaging in discriminatory hiring or promotional practices. AFL, a conservative legal advocacy group, claimed the airline’s emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives amounted to unlawful “quotas” and preferences that sidelined merit-based hiring.

The airline has since committed to ensuring compliance with federal regulations. According to the OFCCP, Southwest acknowledged that placement and hiring benchmarks should serve as aspirational goals, not rigid quotas. Moreover, the airline agreed to review its hiring practices and implement remedies to prevent future violations.

The letter confirms the commitment that “Southwest Airlines Co. agrees that placement goals, utilization goals, and hiring benchmarks are not to be interpreted as a ceiling or floor for the employment of particular groups of persons, but rather should serve as a benchmark against which Southwest Airlines Co. measures the representation of persons within its workforce.”

“If Southwest Airlines Co. fails to meet a utilization goal or hiring benchmark, Southwest Airlines Co. will assess its employment practices and take appropriate measures to address identified problem areas and remedy any unlawful discrimination,” the letter continues.

#BREAKING: Southwest Airlines ENDS its harmful and dangerous DEI practices. pic.twitter.com/k7PQquiCdw

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 3, 2024

“Such remedies may include assessing and revising policies and practices that hinder equal employment opportunities, broadening recruitment and outreach to increase the diversity of applicant pools, and/or instituting training and/or apprenticeship programs to increase promotion opportunities and applications from underrepresented groups,” the letter states.

Southwest Airlines, which has received more than $330 million in federal contracts since 2007, faced allegations of promoting DEI programs that AFL argued prioritized certain groups over others. The OFCCP’s findings, outlined in its December 2, 2024, letter, clarified that federal law prohibits the use of quotas or preferences, even when promoting diversity goals.

America First Legal Counsel, Will Scolinos, said in a statement, “On your next flight, would you rather be told that your pilot checks the right DEI boxes or that he was hired because he was the best of all competing candidates? Americans have had enough of corporations’ overt discrimination under the guise of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.”

“It is unacceptable that corporations are so openly using everyday Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars to meet their unlawful race and sex quotas to achieve some ‘correct’ amount of diversity and representation. Discrimination on the basis of immutable characteristics is always wrong. AFL will continue to fight against discrimination as a substitute for merit in employment decisions—it’s not going to fly,” Scolinos finished.

As the Biden administration has supported DEI programs in various sectors, conservative legal groups like AFL have stepped up efforts to challenge policies they see as overreach.

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