American Airlines chief executive Doug Parker, speaking Wednesday in the nation's capital, said that the divisiveness of today's political environment is the "antithesis of what we do and what our team does for a living."

The boss of the Fort Worth carrier didn't mention by name the person who has rocked political norms the most: President Donald Trump. But Parker said American is in the business of connecting people -- "we fly over borders, walls and stereotypes to bring people together."

He pointed to American's decision in June to tell the Trump administration not to use the carrier's planes to transport migrant children separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.

"It's not so much a political statement as it is a true purpose of what we as a company do," he said at a summit hosted by Airlines for America, an industry group. "When it's things like separating people, we're out."

On other matters, Parker offered the president both praise and words of caution.

He hailed the Trump administration, for instance, for striking a deal this year in a long-running dispute between some U.S. carriers and three of their Persian Gulf rivals. Tension centered on the complaint that those rivals had unfairly benefited from home-country subsidies.

The issue is still a sore spot for Parker, who said it's still impossible to count Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways as fair competitors.

"It would be nice to have a shower in first class," he said. "Well, give us $40 billion from the U.S. government, and we'll put showers in first class, too."

But Parker said there had been "nice progress from the administration" in reaching deals with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to give more transparency into those airlines' financials.

The American chief was more measured in evaluating Trump's growing trade war with China. He said that while American hasn't "seen any perceptible change in demand for air travel" as a result of the trade skirmish, the carrier has "some concerns, being a global carrier."

On family separations, Parker left little doubt about where he stands.

He recalled that as that crisis in Texas unfolded, American heard that its airplanes were being used to transport family members who had been separated at the border. He said the company's response to the Trump administration was that "our team doesn't want to be part of that."

"I don't care what you're paying us," he said, recalling the company's message. "That's not what we do."

Other airlines soon followed American's lead as the industry formed a united front.

The show of force earned a harsh rebuke from the Trump administration, with a U.S. Homeland Security Department spokesman criticizing the airlines at the time for "buckling to a false media narrative" and not understanding "our immigration laws."