Passengers flying aboard Air Canada will no longer be greeted with “ladies and gentlemen,” as the airline has announced a plan to “modernize” its onboard announcements to be more gender inclusive. Announced over the weekend, the airline will begin referring to passengers with the gender-inclusive term “everybody.” The change will be adopted by gate agents, flight attendants, and pilots.
“We will be amending our onboard announcements to modernize them and remove specific references to gender,” Air Canada said in an email to CTV News, “We work hard to make sure all employees feel like valued members of the Air Canada family, while ensuring our customers are comfortable and respected when they choose to travel with us.”
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According to La Press, the airline’s new greeting protocol was announced in a company-wide email to employees, which stated that the change was meant to make the airline “an inclusive space.”
“We want to ensure an inclusive space for everyone, including those who identify with gender X,” the email said. “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.”
The airline has not specified when the change will be implemented. Currently, passengers are referred to as the gender-specific “ladies and gentlemen” or “mesdames et messieurs” in French. Once the change goes into effect, Air Canada staff will instead address passengers as “everybody” or “tout le monde.”
The move comes after the airline was named one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers for 2019. The airline was selected for the title due to its partnership with a number of organizations, including Ready, Willing and Able, Indspire’s Indigenous scholarship and award program, and Jazz Aviation.
The change also comes after Canada in 2017 offered citizens the option to identify as gender neutral using “Gender X” on passports, becoming the first country in North America to do so.
“All Canadians should feel safe to be themselves, live according to their gender identity and express their gender as they choose,” immigration minister Ahmed Hussen said in a statement in 2017 about the change. “By introducing an ‘X’ gender designation in our government-issued documents, we are taking an important step towards advancing equality for all Canadians regardless of gender identity or expression.”
Air Canada’s new gender inclusive policy follows the examples of other airlines that have taken similar measures, including Air Italy, JetBlue, United, and Southwest. Meanwhile, several more airlines are also planning to offer more gender options in the future.
