Delta Air Lines’ top Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) officer has sparked outrage after suggesting banning the term “ladies and gentlemen” from gate announcements.
Keyra Lynn Johnson, Delta’s director of diversity, equity, inclusion and social impact, called for an end to the use of the polite greeting and questioned whether it was “gender-inclusive” enough.
The bizarre statement was first made during a February 2021 panel discussion with fellow DEI members, and Johnson still heads the company’s DEI department today.
‘We’re starting to look more deeply at things like gatehouse announcements. You know, we welcome ‘ladies and gentlemen.’
“And we asked ourselves, ‘Is that as gender-inclusive as we want to be?'” she said, referring to the popular expression.
Keyra Lynn Johnson, Delta’s director of diversity, equity, inclusion and social impact, called for an end to the use of the polite greeting and questioned whether it was “gender-inclusive” enough.
Delta Air Lines’ chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer (DEI) has sparked outrage after suggesting banning the term “ladies and gentlemen” from gate announcements.
‘You know, we’re looking at some legacy language that exists in some of our employee handbooks.
‘And getting to the root of how some things are described and saying, ‘Does that really send a message of inclusion?’
The airline’s move to use more inclusive language is not new.
In December 2020, Delta published guidance instructing employees to “use gender-neutral language and pronouns.”
“Do not use language that suggests a distinction between genders (male and female),” the guide explained.
In December 2020, Delta published a guide instructing employees to ‘Use gender-neutral language and pronouns.
The discussion sparked a debate on social media with many outraged at what Delta appears to be prioritizing.
“Delta is my airline of choice, but not right now,” wrote one reviewer on X.
“Meanwhile, a ‘non-binary’ person competed in the women’s division at the Olympics. That’s how stupid this shit is. Make sense of it. You can’t,” another raged.
“Maybe Delta should be more concerned about on-time performance, poor customer service, high prices and doors falling off planes,” another noted.
The discussion sparked a debate on social media with many outraged at what Delta appears to be prioritizing.
In 2021, Lufthansa also removed the onboard greeting “ladies and gentlemen” and adopted gender-neutral alternatives.
A spokesman for Europe’s largest airline group said the move was aimed at making all passengers on board feel welcome, including those who do not identify as male or female.
“Crews are being instructed to choose a greeting that is inclusive of all passengers,” he said, adding that “dear guests” or a simple “good morning/good evening” would be used instead.
Japan Airlines also announced that it will use phrases such as “all passengers,” “good morning” and “good night” during its English-language messages.
The former state-owned carrier was the first Japanese airline to change its advertisements after EasyJet and Air Canada changed their greetings in 2019.