Ladies And Gentlemen, Don’t Fly Delta

Remember the good old days when please and thank you, yes sir and yes ma’am, and ladies and gentlemen were all considered polite? Remember when you could hold the door for a woman and not get dirty looks?

For instance, Ladies and gentlemen is a salutation used to address an audience in speeches, announcements, and other situations in entertainment, sports, theater, and any other gathering. It’s been used since the 19th century and differs from other gendered binomials in English because the female term comes before the male one. For example, “Hello, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome aboard our flight”. 

Sounds warm and welcoming, right? Well, yes, unless you’re insane. To the insane, ladies and gentlemen isn’t inclusive enough.

The airline industry, in general, and Delta Airlines specifically, has jumped face-first into the DEI mud bog. Delta’s Chief Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Social Impact Officer, Kyra Lynn Johnson, has publicly stated that Delta is continuing to “boldly pursue equity.” The end result is that even normal speech and announcements are being tailored to accommodate a minuscule part of the population.

“So, we’re beginning to take a hard look at things like our gatehouse announcements. You know, we welcome ‘ladies and gentlemen.’ And we’ve asked ourselves, ‘Is that as gender inclusive as we want to be?’” Johnson said during a February 2021 panel with other DEI insiders.

“You know, we’re looking at some legacy language that exists in some of our employee manuals. And getting to the root of the way some things are described and saying, ‘Does that actually send a message of inclusivity?’”

This madness dates back to 2020. At that time, Delta released an “inclusive language guide” that advised employees and leaders against using terms that state there are only two genders. 

The Delta guide stated:

“Use gender-neutral language and pronouns. Do not use language that suggests a gender binary (male-female).”

A Delta spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the company wants its employees to use inclusive language. 

“Delta encourages our people to use language that is inclusive of everyone as our global customer base includes a broad range of diversity in cultural backgrounds, identity, and experiences.”

In 2021, during a DEI panel meeting, Johnson emphasized the importance of Delta being an “antiracist company.”

“To really come out and say, as an organization, that we are an antiracist company was really important to us. We are going to actively seek diversity. We’re also talking about how we’re going to boldly pursue equity. And we’re talking about the steps we’re taking to consciously promote inclusion.”

“So, we realize, like many of you have, that it’s not enough just to say, ‘We aren’t racist,’ but to say that you are anti-racist.”

Delta has also stated that their hiring processes have gone full DEI.

“We said we’re going to reimagine and redefine our talent strategy,” Johnson said, with a focus on being “intentional about the representation that we need.”

She added that the metrics of DEI would be closely monitored and measured by Delta’s DEI team. 

“We’re starting on a quarterly basis to specifically measure those representation gaps at every level of the company. So we’re looking at the front-line representation gap.”

In a November 2021 interview with The Airline Tariff Publishing Company, Johnson mentioned that Delta aimed to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion externally.

At that time, she said the airline looked at how it was spending its “PAC dollars” and which “legislation we should support” to mitigate what it deemed “inequity.”

“The next thing we said is we were just going to flat-out address inequity,” she said. “And when we say we’re boldly pursuing equity, that’s what we mean. So, we were going to lend our voice and our brand to things that support justice and equity. We’re going to look at where we spend our PAC dollars. We’re going to look at what legislation we should support.”

According to the DEI officer, other employees have not been “comfortable” with the changes despite the incentive to change them. 

“Perhaps the greatest challenge has been normalizing those conversations. So, notice I said the company has set an expectation that those conversations are to be normalized. That doesn’t mean everyone feels that way. It doesn’t mean that everyone’s comfortable having those conversations.”

If you fly Delta from now on, I have no idea how you will be greeted on the plane or during gate announcements before you board. However, you won’t be greeted as ladies and gentlemen. This may seem like a minor issue, but it isn’t because greetings aren’t the only thing being manipulated.

Delta is no longer hiring on merit. Instead, their hiring processes are all about meeting quotas. This means that all positions, from mechanics to pilots and flight attendants, are being hired for the wrong reasons.

Very few industries need to hire based on merit more than the airlines. Safety is the number one priority. All Delta has done is weaken the industry and annoy the rational employees that are left.

Ladies and Gentlemen, … Don’t Fly Delta!