Annabel Denham

Why is British Airways banning ‘ladies and gentlemen’?

(Photo: iStock)

British Airways is dropping ‘ladies and gentlemen’ from its announcements. In the name of diversity and inclusion, the airline has instructed staff to use a more ‘gender neutral’ salutation.

You might think that after 18 months of turbulence, BA has more important things to worry about. In spring and summer last year the company was forced to cut 10,000 jobs, representing a third of its workforce, after Covid grounded most of its aircraft. The airline was the biggest user of the furlough scheme, claiming over £10 million in June this year alone.

You might think that after 18 months of turbulence, BA has more important things to worry about

Nonetheless, a decision has been made to boldly follow where Air Canada, EasyJet and Lufthansa have already gone, changing its language in an effort to mollify a vanishingly small minority. No longer will children have to feel excluded. No longer will ‘social norms’ be disregarded. In this brave new world, passengers will presumably be called ‘everybody,’ or ‘valued customers’. Certainly not that bastion of everyday sexism: ‘guys’.

A lot can happen in a half decade. In 2016, British Airways still proudly laid claim to being the ‘world’s favourite airline’. The national flag-carrier had pipped John Lewis to the position of UK’s most popular brand for the third year running. But in the intervening years, the wheels started to come off, and bad PR took the wheel. In 2017 an elderly passenger was denied access to the loo. In 2018, thousands of customers were affected by a severe data hack which compromised their personal and financial details. The following year, a senior cabin crew was discovered moonlighting as a porn star.

In the same period, BA was morphing into what the Sun once called ‘British Bareways’.

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