Air Canada staff will no longer greet ‘ladies and gentlemen’ onboard planes

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Air Canada staff on flights will no longer use “ladies and gentlemen” as the company will eliminate gendered greetings in the near future.

Daniel J. Rowe, Digital reporter, Sunday, October 13, 2019

MONTREAL — Flight attendants at Air Canada will no longer greet passengers as “ladies and gentlemen” or “mesdames et messieurs” as they have for years.

Flight staff will no longer use gender terms in boarding announcements as the company will be replacing scripted greetings with neutral words like “everybody” or “tout le monde”.

“We will be amending our onboard announcements to modernize them and remove specific references to gender,” a media spokesperson for the company said in an email. “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.”

Air Canada’s response also noted that the company was named one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers for 2019.