Holiday firm TUI has asked its pilots and flight crews to refrain from calling passengers 'ladies and gentlemen'. Instead it wants customers to be referred to as 'passengers'.
People flying with the company can expect to hear announcements such as 'Good morning passengers, this is your captain speaking' rather than the more traditional greeting. A similar move was made by British Airways last year, Dorset Live reports.
TUI said it wanted to make all passengers and staff feel that the company is an inclusive environment. But some people criticised the move on social media.
Bob Lister, from Poole, who was once a council election candidate and agent for Ukip candidate David Young, tweeted: "TUI tells cabin crew to use gender-neutral language for passengers. More Woke Nonsense!"
Dr David Bull, Talk TV host and former MEP branded the move as "madness". He wrote: "More wokeness. When will this madness stop? TUI tells cabin crew to use gender-neutral language for passengers."
A TUI spokesperson said: "As a truly global business we’re committed to making sure our colleagues and customers feel that TUI is an inclusive environment and always feel welcome with us. We therefore encourage all our pilots and crew to ensure all public announcements onboard our aircraft are inclusive and this has been the case for some time."
