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British Airways To Use Gender-Neutral Terms Instead Of Ladies And Gentlemen During Flights

British Airways To Use Gender-Neutral Terms Instead Of Ladies And Gentlemen During Flights

Pilots and cabin crew have been asked not to refer to passengers as 'ladies and gentlemen' anymore

Rebecca Shepherd

Rebecca Shepherd

British Airways will adopt more gender-neutral terms to greet passengers to replace calling them 'ladies and gentlemen' in a bid to celebrate 'diversity and inclusion'.

According to reports, the decision has been made to respect wider social norms as well as making children feel more included.

Russell Hart/Alamy Stock Photo

This move has come off the back of other airlines doing the same thing including Lufthansa, easyJet and Air Canada.

Japan Airlines also said it would use gender-neutral language to 'create a positive atmosphere and treat everyone... with respect'.

In a statement to the MailOnline, a British Airways spokesperson said: "We celebrate diversity and inclusion and we're committed to ensuring that all our customers feel welcome when travelling with us."

LADbible has approached the company for a statement.

Peter Phipp/Travelshots.com/Alamy Stock Photo

It isn't just airline operators that are trying to bring about change in the world of air travel either - in July, the Supreme Court heard a legal battle for gender-neutral passports.

Christie Elan-Cane, who has campaigned for more than 25 years to achieve legal and social recognition for non-gendered identity, has brought a case to the UK's highest court in the latest round of a legal battle for 'X' passports.

The 63-year-old argues that the UK's passport application process, which requires individuals to indicate whether they are male or female, breaches human rights laws.

The Supreme Court challenge, which is being contested by the Home Secretary, centres on the current policy administered by Her Majesty's Passport Office (HMPO) - part of the Home Office.

Justin Kase ztwoz/Alamy Stock Photo

Justices heard that the current gendered policy has a significant impact on the lives of those affected.

Kate Gallafent QC, for Elan-Cane, said: "The appellant, whose gender identity engages Article 8, cannot cross a frontier, undergo an identity check or undertake the many transactions of everyday life without using a passport which misrepresents the appellant's gender identity."

The barrister said that non-gendered people, such as Elan-Cane, and non-binary people have to make a false declaration to get a passport, which 'strikes at the foundation of the standards of honesty and integrity to be expected of such official processes'.

The court later heard that the Home Office accepts that a person's gender identity can be male, female, both or neither.

Sir James Eadie QC, for the Home Office said: "It is obviously problematic, and highly undesirable, for one branch of Government, i.e. HMPO, to recognise non-binary identification when no other Government department does so.

"It may lead to the same person being treated as having a different sex/gender by HMPO for the purposes of issuing a passport on the one hand, and by other Government departments for all other Governmental functions on the other."

Featured Image Credit: imageBROKER/Alamy Stock Photo

Topics: british airways, News, UK