Japan Airlines' LGBT statement passengers won't understand

Japan Airlines' change might go over the heads of most passengers. Photo / Denisse Leon, Unsplash

From tomorrow Japan's national carrier is banishing the term "ladies and gentlemen" from its planes.

On 1 October the airline staff will be instead addressing passengers through the gender neutral terms "everyone" and "all passengers," according to local news.

It's a subtle change. Possibly even less likely to be noticed by passengers – considering this change will only be taking place for announcements in the "English language".

"It is a small deal that most people do not really care about because this change in announcement in English cannot be understood nor noticed by almost all the Japanese-speaking passengers," sociologist Kazuya Kawaguchi of Hiroshima Shudo University told the BBC.

However, Kawaguchi considered this a "significant step forward" towards addressing LGBT issues, given lack of leadership in the area from Japanese businesses.

JAL is one of only a handful of international carriers to address the issue. It follows Air Canada and EasyJet in introducing gender neutral announcements on its planes.

A spokesperson for the airline told media the move was to "create a positive atmosphere" and treating passengers with "respect".

"We have committed to not discriminate based on gender... sexual orientation, gender identity or other personal attributes," the airline's Mark Morimoto told news agency Reuters.

Some travellers will question the significance of announcements most passengers can't understand. However JAL becomes the first national company to take such a step on gender parity.

In 2010 the airline employed Japan's first ever female commercial airline pilot, Ari Fuji.

Same sex marriage is currently illegal in Japan.

Last year the country recorded a record low place World Economic Forum's annual gender equality ranking at 121 out of 153 countries. The Japan Times noted this was the lowest in the Group of Seven economies.

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