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Home » United Airlines » Photos: United Airlines Operates All-Black Juneteenth Flight
United Airlines

Photos: United Airlines Operates All-Black Juneteenth Flight

Matthew Klint Posted onJune 22, 2021November 14, 2023 46 Comments

United Airlines celebrated Juneteenth with a historic flight from Houston to Chicago featuring an all-black team of employees.

In This Post:

Toggle
  • What Is Juneteenth?
  • United Airlines Juneteenth Celebration – Special All-Black Flight
  • Why This Matters
  • CONCLUSION

What Is Juneteenth?

Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. While Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 freed all slaves in the Confederacy, it was more than two years until the news reached slaves in Texas. Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865 bringing word to thousands of slaves that they no longer were under bondage.

The former slaves reacted in jubilee, celebrating with prayer, hymns, and spiritual songs. This moment in time has been celebrated annually since it happened, but only recently became a U.S. federal holiday.

United Airlines Juneteenth Celebration – Special All-Black Flight

To celebrate Juneteenth in 2021, United Airlines operated a very special flight from Houston Bush Intercontinental (IAH) to Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) on Saturday morning, June 20, 2021. All team members who worked on Flight 1258 were black. That included:

  • flight crew
  • pilots
  • gate agents
  • ramp staf
  • maintenance technicians
  • caterers
  • flight dispatchers (in Houston and Chicago)

Passengers aboard the Boeing 787-9 were treated to pre-flight speeches and music and a water cannon salute. Even Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner spoke prior to the flight. But perhaps the coolest aspect of the whole experience was when Captain Sal Crocker played the saxophone.

Here are some pictures and videos from the flight:

a blue sign with white text

a blue and white balloons in a room

a group of people wearing masks and standing in a room

a man playing a saxophone

a man in uniform playing a saxophone

a man in uniform playing a saxophone

a man standing at a podium with a microphone

a group of people wearing face masks

a person holding up a ticket

a person in a yellow vest walking next to an airplane

a group of people in safety vests waving

a group of people standing around an airplane on a runway

a group of people wearing safety vests and headphones

a man and woman wearing face masks walking in an airport

a group of people wearing face masks

a woman sitting at a desk with multiple computer screens

a man sitting at a desk in a cubicle with computers

a man sitting at a desk with multiple computer screens

a group of people posing for a photo

all images courtesy of United

Why This Matters

A self-identified United pilot wrote me, griping about what occurred. He said:

“Imagine if United had assembled an all-white team to celebrate European heritage. It would be the scandal of the century.”

But I think he misses the point.

Speaking as a white American, I am so proud of what occurred. Not because I’m riddled with guilt over crimes against humanity that neither I nor my ancestors participated in (on the contrary, my ancestors fought in the Union Army to liberate slaves). Not because I celebrate a toxic and divisive racial agenda that seeks to pit races against one another.

I celebrate this occurrence because it shows how much progress has been made. Oh, there is always more work to be done. We must all do more to treat one another with dignity and respect, an elusive and often-difficult goal when it comes to moving from theoretical to practical. But think how far we have come: from a nation in which most blacks were kidnapped slaves with no legal rights to a nation in which we celebrate the potential of life, liberty, and the pursuit of the happiness for all as more than just a hollow aspiration.

I’m thrilled to live in a nation that has made progress in combatting racial inequities. This flight demonstrates the sort of progress we should all celebrate and unite around.

CONCLUSION

United Airlines celebrated a historic Juneteenth flight from IAH to ORD on Saturday. As we reflect upon the end of a horrible chapter in American history and look forward toward a day when all will have equal opportunity to succeed, let us also not forget the progress that has been made, as demonstrated by the all-black team of UA1258.

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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46 Comments

  1. K Reply
    June 22, 2021 at 8:02 am

    Did it come with a “no whites” sign? How is this not discriminatory? Because everyone knows an “all-white” flight would not be okay.

    But, yes, another day, another political left-leaning blog post.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      June 22, 2021 at 9:37 am

      If you read this particular post for detail, it is decidedly not left-leaning, unless you and I have a totally different definition of that term. I expected to wake up this morning having offended those who besmirch the progress that has been made; the sort of hand-wringers who argue systemic racism is the worst it has ever been. This flight demonstrates tremendous progress that has been made in racial reconciliation in this country.

      • K Reply
        June 22, 2021 at 9:54 am

        Segregation isn’t “progress” to me. But at least United gets their virtue points

        • Matthew Klint Reply
          June 22, 2021 at 10:04 am

          It’s a one-off event meant to commemorate how far black people have come in the USA. That’s not “segregation” as much as it recognizes pride in a people who were kidnapped from across the Atlantic, brought to this country against their will, enslaved for centuries, then state-sanctioned apartheid, and now finally have been given a real chance to succeed and are rising to the challenge.

          • cargocult
            June 22, 2021 at 1:08 pm

            I think you forget about who was actually doing the kidnapping on the other side of the Atlantic. Perhaps you don’t blame white folx for every ill in modern society, but there are plenty who do. Consider that the word “slave” comes from Slavs.

            https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-08-20/willful-amnesia-how-africans-forgot-and-remembered-their-role-slave-trade
            https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-the-slave-traders-were-african-11568991595
            https://www.newyorker.com/culture/personal-history/my-great-grandfather-the-nigerian-slave-trader

            I don’t think categorizing groups of people by race should be considered progress. Progressivism has robbed black folx of agency and broken up their families. I generally object to the concept of “progress” as commonly understood in politics. Every generation is consumed with presentism and considers itself the moral superior of its predecessors.

            As for this Juneteenth crew, isn’t it ironic that black folx were working while white folx got the day off?

          • Matthew Klint
            June 22, 2021 at 1:19 pm

            I’m not “blaming the white folks” for kidnapping – I am blaming the kidnappers and am well aware that blacks sold blacks into slavery – and that some blacks and Native Americans in the USA held slaves.

            I share in your goal of a colorblind society. But I don’t think this event was celebrating black superiority or celebrating diversity…it was celebrating progress toward a more perfect union in which we are treated according to the content of our character or the skills we bring to the table and not the color of our skin. We must remember history and celebrate tremendous strides that have been made in order to reach this day.

            https://www.wsj.com/articles/bill-maher-diagnoses-liberal-progressophobia-11623970492

          • cargocult
            June 22, 2021 at 1:49 pm

            I don’t think you are among those who blame whitey for everything. You do remember writing this post, though, don’t you?

            https://liveandletsfly.com/united-airlines-pilot-diversity/

            “United Airlines will seek to diversify its flight decks by offering preference to female candidates and those of color.”

            Offering preferences? That’s not racist at all, especially when preferences work again those fake minorities who enact white supremacy, Asians (see any elite college admissions office). I recently encountered the term “people of more color.” We are truly on the road to colorblindness.

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_Action_Around_the_World

            If anything, I think commemorating the end of slavery merits a federal holiday more than Martin Luther King, Jr. Still, celebrating certain congregations of identity groups as a sign of progress is actually a sign of how little progress has been made. Well meaning folx of all races mistake what racism is and race is being used as a cudgel to divide our society.

  2. Joe Chivas Reply
    June 22, 2021 at 8:37 am

    It must be nice not to have to deal with any white privilege throughout the entire flight. I hope these racism-free flights become more common.

  3. CHRIS Reply
    June 22, 2021 at 8:40 am

    Nope….this isn’t racist at all is it? We’re fare-paying white devils or successful asians allowed to fly aboard as passengers. Funny, nobody (including YOU) has even heard of juneteenth until about 2 years ago……(don’t lie, you haven’t). Virtue signal all you want. This won’t last forever. How about a gay flight? How come you’re not demanding that?

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      June 22, 2021 at 9:32 am

      Racism implies racial superiority. I don’t think United was arguing blacks are superior to whites by operating this flight. This isn’t virtue signaling: this is a recognition that black Americans have come along way from that first Juneteenth.

      • UA-NYC Reply
        June 22, 2021 at 7:35 pm

        No point in arguing with the racist/white nationalist types Matthew…they’re pretty obvious across the travel blogs after a few years of the same retrograde drivel.

        • CHRIS Reply
          June 22, 2021 at 10:14 pm

          Whatever dude. You call anything that you don’t agree with racist. There is no other word for selecting someone solely for the color of their skin. It doesn’t matter how well-intentioned it is. You on the other hand are not well-intentioned and its people like you want to thrust this country into a race war. Keep trying moron.

          • UA-NYC
            June 23, 2021 at 7:45 pm

            Jesus effing Christ – it’s a one off photo event to celebrate something that has a zero percent chance of ever happening in reality…yet the Far Right is somehow extremely butthurt over it

  4. Brian G. Reply
    June 22, 2021 at 9:03 am

    How does this flight work from a collective bargaining point of view, in terms of seniority-based bidding? Do they have exceptions in the contract for “special” flights?

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      June 22, 2021 at 9:31 am

      They do. Special flights like inaugurals or flights like this are exceptions.

    • Jim Baround Reply
      June 22, 2021 at 10:30 am

      I would expect that anyone who originally had been assigned this flight through bidding was paid even if they did not end up working it.

  5. Steve Reply
    June 22, 2021 at 9:09 am

    pandering. pathetic.

    620,000 mostly white men died freeing slaves

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      June 22, 2021 at 9:31 am

      Yes, including members of my own family. And we celebrate them on Memorial Day each year and remember then in our hearts every day. Not sure why United’s action is pandering on that basis.

  6. Airfarer Reply
    June 22, 2021 at 9:13 am

    Your last paragraph, ‘an equal opportunity to succeed.’ One presumes that means we’re all the same in height, weight, wealth, language, attractiveness, color, etc. etc. Otherwise, this virtuous flight and its presumed symbolism of we’re all equal is just the usual SJW nonsense. Why don’t we just stop talking about it?

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      June 22, 2021 at 9:30 am

      I said equal opportunity – very different than equal outcome. Everything you have mentioned illustrates why outcomes will never be equal. Throw in providence or “luck” as well. But the point of equal opportunity is that no government barriers should be erected to privilege one over another on the basis of race. That doesn’t seem so “left wing” to me now, does it?

  7. Paolo Reply
    June 22, 2021 at 9:45 am

    Anyone doubting the difficulty and pain of the struggle, should read the Taylor Branch trilogy on the King years. IIRC Matthew has referred to it before. Riveting stuff, even at about 2000 pages…

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      June 22, 2021 at 9:47 am

      I have indeed. Essential reading. It opens your eyes.

  8. Jim Baround Reply
    June 22, 2021 at 10:32 am

    Always perplexes me that people are outraged about this stuff.

    • UA-NYC Reply
      June 22, 2021 at 7:39 pm

      They’re the same people that supported a racist POTUS and advocate for his return…

    • cargocult Reply
      June 23, 2021 at 12:49 am

      Yeah, who doesn’t love defining people by their races and discriminating accordingly? Racism, like San Dimas High School football, rules!

  9. TCD Reply
    June 22, 2021 at 12:05 pm

    I just want to say how much I like your take on this Matthew. The “Why it matters” section is a very strong and moving message.

    This makes me proud to fly United, especially with their actions on pilot training proving this isn’t just a one-off pr stunt.

    • S Hoover Reply
      June 22, 2021 at 3:02 pm

      I agree…thanks for the story…

  10. DFWSteve Reply
    June 22, 2021 at 12:56 pm

    So much for the notion of a “colorblind nation” Apparently that noble aspiration is dead and buried. Meanwhile we re-segregate an airline flight.

  11. Adam Guillette Reply
    June 22, 2021 at 1:22 pm

    They celebrated Juneteenth by bringing back segregation?

  12. Jerry Reply
    June 22, 2021 at 2:56 pm

    It makes me sad to see so many people get outraged by events that bring joy to so many people and hurt not a single person. No discrimination occurred here; a special event was celebrated. You need not be Black to share in the pride and the excitement exhibited by the United employees for this flight. I would have been honored to have been a passenger, and I’m glad that Juneteenth is starting to be recognized all around the United States.

    • S Hoover Reply
      June 22, 2021 at 3:02 pm

      Amen

    • CHRIS Reply
      June 22, 2021 at 7:40 pm

      “You need not be Black to share in the pride and the excitement”
      So then if an Asian, Hispanic or White ramp agent wanted to load bags on this flight they WOULD have been allowed to?
      Keep telling yourself that segregation and discrimination (as long as its for the right reasons) is good. This just continues to drive that wedge in deeper and deeper which is probably what you really want anyway.

    • UA-NYC Reply
      June 22, 2021 at 7:42 pm

      A very good point Jerry. Just remember that a majority population of the Right doesn’t believe our POTUS was elected fairly, thinks Covid to this day is a hoax, and is more outraged about cancel culture than anything else policy-wise, and that tells you all you need to know

      • cargocult Reply
        June 23, 2021 at 12:45 am

        Just because many Trump supporters spout nonsense about election fraud doesn’t mean that there weren’t legitimate criticisms to be made of the changes made to election procedures last year. Also, Biden’s margin of victory in three key states was a total of about 44,000 votes. Marginal votes in swing states matter and Democratic changes to election procedures clearly affected marginal votes.

        https://www.heritage.org/election-integrity/commentary/2020-election-redo-4-states-here-are-the-details-about-texas-lawsuit
        https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/states-changed-rules-voting-amid-coronavirus-pandemic/story?id=72309089
        https://www.propublica.org/article/propublicas-guide-to-2020-election-laws-and-lawsuits

        Trump never called the COVID-19 pandemic a hoax. Even left-leaning “fact checks” admit this. Of course, the TDS-afflicted don’t care what Trump actually says. Their feelings of hateful hysteria are all that matter.

        https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/oct/08/ask-politifact-are-you-sure-donald-trump-didnt-cal/
        https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-virus-outbreak-ap-fact-check-politics-joe-biden-1eea443cca46df5f18e61b7c34549da2

        Trump came late to criticizing cancel culture. Do you even think it is real, or is it a myth like Antifa violence? A bunch of LARPers and buffoons at the Capitol is “Trump’s insurrection” and a threat to democracy but months of leftist rioting, arson, shootings and other violence are “mostly peaceful” protests. The only homicide at the Capitol on Jan. 6 was committed by a police officer. The other deaths were of natural causes. Of course, leftists make the riot out to be a murderous rampage. Did they mistake it for BLM protest?

        https://nypost.com/2020/07/27/jerry-nadler-calls-violence-from-antifa-in-portland-a-myth/
        https://abcnews.go.com/US/year-protests-portland-residents-waning-patience-antifa/story?id=77511470
        https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/09/14/violent-antipolice-memes-surge/
        https://www.newsweek.com/blms-mostly-peaceful-93-percent-study-sparks-renewed-propaganda-opinion-1529969
        https://nypost.com/2021/06/07/finally-portland-antifa-is-being-brought-to-justice-for-its-violence/
        https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/04/07/capitol-riot-deaths-cause-death-released-4-5-not-sicknick/7128040002/
        https://www.politifact.com/article/2021/apr/20/update-capitol-police-officer-sicknick-died-natura/

        “It’s racist because I say it is!” cries the racist box jumper.

  13. Andy K Reply
    June 22, 2021 at 3:34 pm

    I love how you take credit for your “ancestors” fighting in the civil war — as though you had any choice in the matter. It makes you no more or less righteous than if your ancestors fought for the confederacy, or were Nazis for that matter. You are not determined by what your ancestors did or did not do!

    I’m a little bit surprised they didn’t operate the flight between ORD and a city of more significant to Blacks, like Detroit or Miami Gardens.

  14. DFWSteve Reply
    June 22, 2021 at 4:30 pm

    Re-segregation is abhorrent. Whether it is a “celebration” or whether someone “enjoyed” it, race based segregation has no place in a colorblind society. Period. What’s next? Black and white water fountains and restaurant seating?

    • CHRIS Reply
      June 22, 2021 at 7:42 pm

      Yes, actually. That’s how these people think.

    • UA-NYC Reply
      June 22, 2021 at 7:44 pm

      What’s next, Red states surgically targeting POC as they didn’t like the results of the 2020 election and are looking to reduce ways of voting (and no, it’s not just all about ID)? Oh wait, too late, that’s already happening.

      • CHRIS Reply
        June 22, 2021 at 7:53 pm

        You have to identify yourself and eligibility for many things in today’s society….even something as minor as buying a beer. I love my red state. I love that I’m free to go to a restaurant or a movie theater or a bar. I’m thankful that if I dial 911 the police will come and not hesitate. I’m thankful that my business won’t be looted or burned. I’m thankful that I can walk with my family and not be robbed, assaulted or murdered. I’m thankful that my taxes are reasonable. I’m thankful that people who commit crimes and hurt others are punished and kept away from the rest of us….anything else?

  15. Jackson Waterson Reply
    June 22, 2021 at 8:20 pm

    Wonderful. I wish it were advertised beforehand so I can switch flights to my preferred cabin crew. I’m white. I have nothing in common with other groups. I rather be served by and do business with my own people. If blacks, non white latinos, and Asians are allowed to have a preference for their own, whites should be allowed to as well. Forcing people who don’t want to be together is slavery. If blacks, Christians, whites, Jews, Indians, or Muslims want to operate their own businesses for their own people, great. That’s how it should be. Blacks are allowed to have pride, speak about issues affecting the black community, act in their interest, and have a caucus. Whites should be allowed the same.

    • UA-NYC Reply
      June 23, 2021 at 7:48 pm

      Always great to have your racist, white nationalist perspective on this blog. Doesn’t seem like you’ll be able to post anymore on OMAAT, so you can get out your frustrations here among your brethren.

  16. jm Reply
    June 22, 2021 at 8:51 pm

    I’m not really in favor of choosing flight crews based on their race; it seems racist. I also think it’s kind of silly that Juneteenth is now a national holiday, but if government employees want yet another paid day off, who am I to object; it made sense to me when I lived in Houston that it was a well known commemoration there, but it doesn’t seem like a national thing and I don’t think anybody outside of Texas had ever heard of it.

  17. Paolo Reply
    June 23, 2021 at 10:02 am

    Truly, one despairs in the light of some of these comments. An appropriate and respectful recognition and celebration characterised by the fruitcake right as segregation. I’ve heard it all…

    • cargocult Reply
      June 23, 2021 at 1:35 pm

      I don’t think reasonable people begrudge the commemoration of Juneteenth. Reasonable people are right to have a problem with some people’s race obsession and their choice to view all of society’s ills through the lens of race. Corporate DIE and virtue signaling are craven and make society worse off. Anti-racism is literally racist.

      • UA-NYC Reply
        June 23, 2021 at 7:50 pm

        Shocked, absolutely shocked that the same person who thinks that violent hate speech on social media sites isn’t as bad as the sites themselves doing their best to control it…also thinks those who speak out against racism are actually worse than…the actual racism.

        Must be fun looking in the mirror each day.

        • cargocult Reply
          June 24, 2021 at 1:28 am

          I value individual liberty. That should be obvious. I value free speech over “hate” speech or hurt feelings. If you understood anything about what liberty entails, you would agree with this. You’ve repeatedly demonstrated a strong authoritarian bent and want to control those you deem “not on your side” and “on the wrong side of history.” I don’t approve of racism, but I think state attempts to stamp it out with more racism are even worse. The New Deal and Great Society are proof of this. People will always do things that hurt and offend others, but it shouldn’t be a crime to be racist, especially when leftists define practically everything as such. How in the world do you propose to control the hate in men’s hearts without a monstrous machinery of coercion? DIE/BLM/CRT are the mirror image of white supremacy. Only the gullible, racist and Marxist would support them. I don’t know why I even address you. It’s clear you are an insensate boob who can’t recognize that you are actually the one with hate and racism raging inside. Maybe box jumping is how you work off the rage.

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