Travelers on Japan Airlines will no longer be greeted with the greeting “ladies and gentlemen” from October. The airline will instead use phrases such as “all passengers,” “good morning,” and “good evening” in its English messages. In Japanese, the gender-neutral “minna-sama” (a respectful form of everyone) is used, The Guardian reports.

"We are committed to not discriminating based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or other personal characteristics," a company spokesperson told Reuters.

Air Canada and EasyJet started with gender-neutral greetings last year, but Japan Airlines is the first Japanese airline to go the same way.

In March this year, the company's female flight attendants were also allowed to wear pants and flat shoes if they wanted. The announcement followed a national campaign protesting the expectation of women to wear high heels in the workplace in Japan.

Source: TT