No more ‘ladies and gentlemen’, this airline ditches the famous salute to be more inclusive

July
15, 2021

2 min read

Yes, we are in 2021 and there are things that remain in the past . In this context, Lufthansa , a German airline, says goodbye to the greeting “ladies and gentlemen” at the start of its flights, with the aim of offering a welcome that includes all genders.

In this way, there will no longer be “damen und herren” in German or the “ladies and gentleman” in English the trips of both Lufthansa and other airlines of the group, among which are: Austrian, Swiss, Eurowings and Brussels Airlines.

“It is important to us that we consider everyone in our direction. Depending on the time of day, there are different options, for example ‘dear guests’ or ‘good morning / noon / night’ or ‘Welcome here on board’. The head of the cabin decides which is the correct approach ”, a spokesman for the company told the local media Bild .

Also, the spokesperson commented that this change represents a process that will take time but that it is important to recognize all the guests on board.

This is not the first airline to make these kinds of changes, according to Reuters , Japan Airlines dropped the salute in September 2020 with the same goal as the German company. Other companies such as Air Canada and EasyJet stopped using the salute to recognize their transgender and non-binary customers.