DALLAS (AP) — American Airlines has apologized to two black professional basketball players who were kicked off a plane in Dallas after a flight attendant accused them of stealing blankets. 
 
 Airline spokesman Joshua Freed said Tuesday that Memphis Hustle guard Marquis Teague and forward Trahson Burrell boarded the flight bound for Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Sunday at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. 
 
 The flight was operated by Envoy Air. 
 
 Two first-class passengers gave the players their blankets as they headed to their seats in coach. But a black flight attendant accused them of theft and forced them off the plane. 
 
 Freed says an airline manager apologized to the players and that they later flew first class to Sioux Falls. 
 
 Chief executive Doug Parker told employees last month that American Airlines will implement implicit-bias training. ||||| A first class Robin Hood was kicked off a flight over the weekend for attempting to sneak free drinks to his friends in economy class. 
 
 The incident happened on an American Airlines flight from Philadelphia to Atlanta, according to Katie Genter of The Points Guy, who was also on the flight. The premium class passenger boarded the flight with two friends in economy. After taking his seat, a flight attendant offered first class passengers a pre-departure drink, which the man had — and then followed up with an order for two more drinks. 
 
 The flight attendant told the man he could order only one drink at a time, so he said it was for the woman next to him. (It wasn't.) When the two drinks arrived, the man in 1A began his crusade back to economy class. But the flight attendant intervened, saying he must remain in first class with the drinks. He tried saying he was going to the bathroom — but there's a first class lavatory, and the attendant said he had to use that. 
 
 Despite the resistance, he pressed on. According to Genter, he texted his friends to come up to the bathroom and meet him in the middle. When they tried, they were directed to use the bathroom at the back of the plane. At that point, the gig was apparently up. Genter tweeted that a manager appeared, and the first class passenger eventually left the plane. 
 
 AA manager pulled him from the plane to "talk to him". We'll see if he returns. — Katie Genter (@katieGenter) May 12, 2018 
 
 While it may sound like a good deed, airlines are not especially keen on economy passengers getting premium perks. Late last year, two professional basketball players in economy were kicked off a flight after a flight attendant accused them of stealing first class blankets. 
 
 As for drinks, federal regulations prohibit drinking onboard aircraft unless the beverage is directly served by a flight attendant. Some airlines may allow first class passengers to share a drink with a passenger in economy — but it’s best to ask for permission and wait until the flight has taken off. 
 
 "The customer caused a disruption during the boarding process," American Airlines told Travel + Leisure in a statement. "We did offer to rebook the customer on a later flight, but he declined and we provided a full refund." ||||| The NAACP is warning African-American travelers to be careful when they fly with American Airlines. 
 
 In an advisory late Tuesday, the organization said it has noticed "a pattern of disturbing incidents reported by African-American passengers, specific to American Airlines." 
 
 The NAACP cited four examples of black passengers who it said were forced to give up their seats or were removed from flights. 
 
 It said the incidents "suggest a corporate culture of racial insensitivity and possible racial bias" and advised travelers to exercise caution. 
 
 "Booking and boarding flights on American Airlines could subject them [to] disrespectful, discriminatory or unsafe conditions," the advisory said. 
 
 Related: Get ready for a more militant NAACP 
 
 American Airlines (AAL) CEO Doug Parker said in a memo to staff that the company was "disappointed" to hear about the NAACP warning. 
 
 "We fly over borders, walls and stereotypes to connect people from different races, religions, nationalities, economic backgrounds and sexual orientations," Parker wrote in the memo, which the company released to reporters. "We do not and will not tolerate discrimination of any kind." 
 
 He said the airline has reached out to the NAACP to meet with them. NAACP President Derrick Johnson had called for a meeting with the airline's leadership. 
 
 Related: NAACP issues its first statewide travel advisory, for Missouri 
 
 The NAACP warning referenced four examples, including one involving a black woman who was removed from a New York-bound flight after she complained that her seat was changed without her consent. 
 
 Though the woman was not identified by the NAACP, she spoke to CNNMoney about the incident. 
 
 That woman, Tamika Mallory, said she had gotten into a heated exchange earlier this month with a gate attendant at the Miami airport who she described as "very disrespectful" and "very dismissive." Mallory said she told the attendant that she would file a report about the incident. 
 
 Mallory, a civil rights activist and the co-chair of the Women's March on Washington, said the pilot of the aircraft, a white man, witnessed the end of the encounter and pulled her aside. 
 
 "The first words to come out the pilot's mouth to me are, 'Respect is a two-way street,'" she said, adding that he asked her whether she could behave herself on the flight. 
 
 Mallory said she told him there would be no issue and boarded the plane. She said she sat quietly for 10 minutes before being asked to get up and leave. 
 
 As she left, Mallory said, she saw the pilot again. 
 
 "He looks at me and points and says, 'Yeah, her. Off.'" 
 
 Mallory said she told an NAACP board member about the incident and tweeted details from her encounter with the pilot. 
 
 Only reason this pilot got involved was to assert his white male power over who he thought was just some uppity black girl. That's it. — Tamika D. Mallory (@TamikaDMallory) October 15, 2017 
 
 Since then, she said many people have told her their own stories about similar incidents. 
 
 "Some of them are actually friends of mine," Mallory said. She added they "have felt that there is a level of aggression in terms of how people, particularly black women, are being handled on these flights." 
 
 The NAACP listed the four examples but it did not provide the names of the passengers or say when the events are alleged to have taken place. 
 
 In one other case, the NAACP said a black woman and her baby were removed from a flight from Atlanta to New York after she asked for their stroller to be retrieved from checked baggage before she left the plane. 
 
 Another allegation described an incident involving a black woman who had booked first-class tickets for herself and a white companion. At the ticket counter, the black woman was moved to coach, while her traveling partner was allowed to stay in first class, the NAACP said. 
 
 And on a different occasion, on a flight from Washington, D.C., to Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, a black man was forced to give up his seat after he "responded to disrespectful and discriminatory comments directed toward him by two unruly white passengers," according to the NAACP. 
 
 American Airlines did not comment on the specific allegations. 
 
 Mallory said a meeting with American "is being worked on." She added that she hopes the company can be a potential leader in addressing these issues. 
 
 "I think that the company has continuously put out statements about their commitment to diversity, and their commitment to treating all of their passengers the same," she said. 
 
 "And I think that a statement is good. But if your personnel is not carrying out that vision, then there's a problem. And there has to be accountability mechanisms in place to ensure that if we see a pattern, that we've got to address it." 
 
 The NAACP is asking people who have concerns about their travel with American or other airlines to report their experiences to the organization. 
 
 Johnson said the NAACP's "growing list of incidents ... involves behavior that cannot be dismissed as normal or random." 
 
 In August, the organization issued a travel advisory for Missouri, citing several discriminatory incidents in the state as reasons for individual visitors to travel with "extreme caution." 
 
 It said at the time that the Missouri advisory was the first ever issued by the organization, at the state or national level.
– American Airlines has apologized to two black professional basketball players who were kicked off a plane in Dallas after a flight attendant accused them of stealing blankets. Airline spokesman Joshua Freed said Tuesday that Memphis Hustle guard Marquis Teague and forward Trahson Burrell boarded the flight bound for Sioux Falls, SD, on Sunday at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, reports the AP. Two first-class passengers gave the players their blankets as they headed to their seats in coach. But a black flight attendant accused them of theft and forced them off the plane. Freed says an airline manager apologized to the players and that they later flew first class to Sioux Falls, but the Undefeated reports they didn't arrive in time to make their team holiday dinner. CEO Doug Parker told employees last month that American Airlines will implement implicit-bias training.