No More ‘Ladies and Gentlemen’ on Japan Airlines
- 82newsbulletin
- Nov 6, 2020
- 2 min read
Written by Eashan Trehan
Japanese carrier, Japan Airlines (JAL) has recently announced that it will adopt the use of “gender-neutral” language for its announcements in English. “Attention all passengers” and “Good morning everyone” are among some of the new phrases that will be adhered to, going forward.
The decision makes JAL one of only a handful of airlines that have embraced the use of more inclusive language, following the likes of Air Canada and EasyJet. The move does not come as a surprise from JAL, given its significant track record of engaging in progressive policies. In March, for instance, female flight attendants of JAL were permitted greater freedom in choice of attire, such as wearing pants instead of skirts and were awarded greater discretion for the types of shoes that they preferred. Back in 2017, lesbian, gay, bisexaul and transgender employees were granted the same family benefits as heterosexual couples as well.
Although the move is expected to encourage smaller corporations in Japan to become more inclusive as well, it is notable that the existing announcements being made in Japanese, which is the most popular language in the country, are already gender-neutral and most passengers may not notice the difference in the announcements being made in English.
Furthermore, same-sex marriage has not been legalised in Japan, at the time of writing. According to a report by Niriji Diversity, a non-profit that fights against workplace discrimination, only 1052 same-sex parterners are recognized by the 51 locatlities that recognize same-sex partnership, as of June 2020. It is generally believed that Japan is still held back by some conservatieve views on the LGBTQAI+ community.
Nevertheless, JAL deserves a thumbs up for its proactive decision to create a more open-minded culture for passengers flying with the airline and for choosing to act as a trendsetter for others to follow.
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