Air Canada to use gender-neutral terms on flights instead of greeting passengers 'ladies and gentlemen'

Air Canada flight staff will no longer greet passengers by calling them “ladies and gentlemen.”

In a gender neutral move to be more inclusive, the Canadian airline has decided to ban gendered pronouns from its scripted greetings and will instead welcome “everybody” or “tout le monde” during in flight announcements.

“We will be amending our onboard announcements to modernise them and remove specific references to gender,” a spokesperson for the airline told CNN news partner CTV.

“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.”

READ MORE: Dictionary adds 'they' as nonbinary pronoun for the first time

According to CTV, Air Canada didn't say when the changes will go into effect, but the proposed move comes at a time when many countries are making an effort to be more gender inclusive.

Earlier this year the Canadian government began to allow citizens to select non-binary 'X,' rather than male or female as their gender identity, on their passports.

And Airlines for America (A4A), an industry trade group, also announced it will expand gender options to passengers booking flights to include “unspecified” and “undisclosed.”

READ MORE: School crowns two female students 'homecoming royalty' in gender-neutral move

Over in the UK moves are being made towards gender inclusivity too.

One of the top grammar schools in Britain has already banned teachers from describing pupils as ‘girls’ over fears it will offend transgender pupils.

Altrincham Grammar School for Girls in Manchester previously wrote to parents to advise them of the changes, which will see staff now use “gender-neutral language” when addressing or talking about children.

Girls at the 1,350-pupil school will instead be addressed as ‘students’.

READ MORE: How to support children questioning their gender

The change followed a diversity drive to encourage other schools across Britain to stop using the terms ‘boys’ and ‘girls’ to describe pupils.

Back in 2017, the government-funded ‘Educate and Celebrate’ organisation – that is backed by Ofsted – sent out a book to 120 ‘best practice’ schools that suggests new terms to address young children.

The book, called ‘Can I Tell You About Gender Diversity?’, features a fictional story about a 12-year-old boy transitioning from male to female.

It encourages teachers, parents and pupils as young as SEVEN to address children who identify with the gender they were born as ‘cisgender’.

In a further gender inclusive move, last month Wagamama announced it was introducing gender-neutral toilets to 40% of its restaurants.

The restaurant aims to have gender-neutral toilets in all of its restaurants, but the 40% was initially launched to coincide with Transgender Pride, which took place on 14 September.

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