UK News: EasyJet ban ‘ladies and gentlemen’ greeting to be ‘more inclusive’

EASYJET bosses have banned staff from using ‘ladies and gentlemen’ as a greeting to welcome passengers on board, after the airline was accused of being transphobia by a user on Twitter.

The move was sparked after Dr Andi Fugard, a trans university lecturer, voiced his fury at the airline earlier this year for using the traditional greeting, claiming it reinforced gender boundaries. Dr Fugard wrote:

“Dear @easyjet, are you in some kind of competition to see how many times you can reinforce gender binaries? ‘Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls’, perfume strictly segregated again by ‘ladies and gentlemen. Ditch sir/madam too. An organisation as huge as yours must do better.”

Within 24 hours, EasyJet responded to Dr Fugard, assuring it would pass their concerns on to staff and in response, company chiefs have now provided guidance to pilots and cabin crew to be more ‘inclusive and welcoming’. 

Yesterday a spokesman for EasyJet said: “We want our crew to be welcoming to everyone onboard and so have provided some guidance to them of how to best do that in a way that is inclusive for everyone.”

However, the news that the long-running greeting would be stopped caused a wave of backlash on social media, with many branding the move as “ridiculous nonsense”.

One critic blasted the change, saying: “Give me a break!”. Another said “You can’t say ‘ladies and gentlemen’?!”, whilst one user called it “absolutely ridiculous”.

Those flying with the budget airline will notice the change, with bosses urging “welcome everyone” to now be used.