Airlines introduce new change when buying plane tickets
Major airlines say they will soon change their ticketing process to give passengers the option of identifying themselves as other than male or female.
The gender option on airline sites will soon include choices such as “undisclosed” or “unspecified.” There could also be the optional title of “Mx.”
Several US-based airlines say they are making the change to be more inclusive in dealing with a diverse population of travellers.
The move was praised by advocacy groups for transgender people.
“It’s a significant step forward for nonbinary individuals, so they are not faced with a mismatch between their ticketing information and their legal identification,” said Beck Bailey of the Human Rights Campaign.
The Transportation Security Administration in the US says passengers should use the name, gender and birth date on their government-issued ID.
Bailey said he did not know of people with nonbinary identification being kept off planes or trains, but that fear of being stopped added to their stress.
American, Delta, United, Southwest, Alaska and JetBlue confirmed on Friday that they are in the process of updating their booking tools and plan to add a binary option to the gender menu on their sites. They said the change will be made in the next several weeks.
“We certainly have a very diverse customer base. This will be well-received, and we’re happy to do it,” American Airlines spokesman Matt Miller said.
United Airlines plans to let people select M for male, F for female, U for undisclosed or X for unspecified from the gender menu when booking a ticket on its website or mobile app, said spokeswoman Andrea Hiller. They will also have the option of picking “Mx.” as a title.
Hiller said the airline wants to make sure that “all of our customers feel comfortable and welcome no matter how they self-identify.”
There is no concrete news yet that the move will be rolled out in Australia.
However Virgin Australia told Yahoo News that it is something they will be looking in to.
“Virgin Australia is currently investigating the technical requirements that would be needed to enable a non-binary gender option for bookings made via the Virgin Australia website,” a spokesperson said.
Yahoo News has contacted Qantas for comment regarding a similar move.
Last year, Qantas urged all its staff to avoid using “gender-inappropriate” words to its customers.
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