People flying with an airline of the Lufthansa group, including Brussels Airlines, will no longer be greeted with "ladies and gentlemen," but with a gender-neutral alternative.
A gender-neutral approach is being adopted by Lufthansa, which is why the crew is instructed to use greetings such as "dear passengers," "welcome on board" or just "good morning/evening," a spokesperson for the German airline group told local papers on Tuesday.
"This is a strong statement, and Brussels Airlines, too, wants to evolve towards as much inclusiveness as possible," spokesperson Maaike Andries told The Brussels Times.
"We want everyone to feel welcome on board, including people who do not identify as male or female," she added, confirming that Brussels Airlines will actively implement the change.
The company already started using gender-neutral language in its internal communication a while ago, but will now also start implementing the change towards passengers.
"This is of course not something that can be done overnight, but we will eventually do this everywhere, in all communication, including the instruction videos and speeches on board," Andries said.
Apart from Brussels Airlines, the decision also applies to the Lufthansa group's other companies: Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Swiss and Eurowings.
