Air Canada is dropping "ladies and gentlemen" from its on-flight greetings
Passengers on Air Canada flights will soon be welcomed with a new gender-neutral greeting as staff will be addressing customers as ‘everyone’ in an effort to be more inclusive.
After decades of Air Canada employees referring to passengers as “ladies and gentlemen” in their announcements, staff will now use gender-neutral greetings, according to French media outlet La Presse.
The changes were announced over the weekend in a company memo obtained by La Presse.
“We want to ensure an inclusive space for everyone, including those who identify with gender X,” reads the memo.
- See also:
“The change will be reflected in the transmission of the Onboard Announcement Manual as part of our commitment to respect gender identity, diversity and inclusion. We will tell you when this transmission will be available and when to implement this change,” reads the rest of the memo, as quoted by La Presse.
The change comes just over four months since the federal government announced Canadians could mark their gender as ‘X’ rather than male or female on their passport, travel document, citizenship certificate, or permanent resident card.
The policy change has since received mixed reviews from Canadians on social media, with some saying the change is unnecessary.
OMG Really ! Who could possibly be offended by an announcement starting with “Ladies and Gentlemen” ? If anyone is offended by this, then I’m offended by being referred to as “Everyone”.
While I applaud Air Canada for being inclusive, this is just a little bit too much.— Roger Clement (@1_Roger_That) October 14, 2019
Complete overkill…I suppose doctors should follow suit when announcing the birth of your newborn little “it” !
I applaud those who have the courage to not identify as a “he” or “she” but please don’t ignore the rest of us who are very comfortable with our gender identifies!— Paul Bellm (@PBellm) October 14, 2019
Bye AC, never fly with you again. Brutal decision AC, you changed to accommodate the 1%? 99% can now fly WestJet.
— Hockey123 (@yychockey123) October 14, 2019
However, it looks like many Twitter users are on board with the changes saying that inclusion matters.
Yes it seems to be used having a massive overreaction 😂😂😂 does it really bother you that much that they don’t stay ladies and gentlemen, sounds like you’ve never left your house, never mind gone to another country.
— @Bob (@Bobamathing) October 14, 2019
why are people offended about the decision to start saying “everyone” instead? it literally includes you & …everyone else… you are not losing any privileges here
— christine (@christinemben) October 13, 2019
Inclusion matters. #LGBTQ2 https://t.co/8f9bjfBpgF
— Dr. Kristopher Wells (@KristopherWells) October 14, 2019
