Starting next year, American Airlines customers can choose non-binary gender options when booking flights.
There is (of course) a catch: You’ll have to make the reservation over the phone (or call the company after booking online to have it changed).
Passengers may soon request that the gender on their boarding pass read “U” or “X,” rather than the traditional “M” (male) or “F” (female). The genderqueer category, however, must match that displayed on the person’s official ID—passport, driver’s license, etc.
“We recently completed a system update to offer non-binary gender selections,” American Airlines told Geek in an emailed statement. “Taking care of our customers and team members is what we do, and we are glad to be able to better accommodate the gender preferences of our travelers and team members.”
This is great news for the growing genderqueer community.
But the fact that someone can’t simply make the change online, and instead must phone up the service and speak to a human (who does that anymore, anyway?), is still a form of discrimination.
The move—in line with TSA requirements—mimics United Airlines, which was the first commercial carrier in the US to add a non-binary option for booking flights.
Since March, United customers have been able to self-identify as male, female, undisclosed, or unspecified; they can also use the title “Mx.” in lieu of “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” or “Ms.”
It’s unclear whether American Airlines will follow suit with enby titles.
When probed on Twitter, the company in October said “We have an option for all travelers to feel included,” adding that updates can be made “over the phone, or if you DM the record locator.”
More on Geek.com:
- Nonbinary Pronoun ‘They’ Is Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year
- Qantas Completes Record 19-Hour Test Flight
- British Airways Tests VR Entertainment on Select First-Class Flights
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