MONTREAL -- Flight attendants at Air Canada will no longer greet passengers as "ladies and gentlemen" or "mesdames et messieurs" as they have for years.
Flight staff will no longer use gender terms in boarding announcements as the company will be replacing scripted greetings with neutral words like "everybody" or "tout le monde".
"We will be amending our onboard announcements to modernize them and remove specific references to gender," a media spokesperson for the company said in an email. "We work hard to make sure all employees feel like valued members of the Air Canada family, while ensuring our customers are comfortable and respected when they choose to travel with us."
Air Canada's response also noted that the company was named one of Canada's Best Diversity Employers for 2019.
Air Canada has not yet announced when the new gender-neutral greetings will be implemented by on-board staff.
The airline's announcement comes just weeks after the Ontario Provincial Police announced it would no longer be releasing the gender of people charged with crimes, or that of their alleged victims.
Earlier this year, Canada allowed citizens who do not identify with a binary gender such as male or female to use the gender 'X' on official documents such as passports and citizenship certificates.
