The firm has asked for its pilots and flight crew not to refer to passengers as “ladies and gentleman”, instead only referring to them as “passengers”. Holidaymakers are instead expected to hear their pilots announce “Good morning, passengers, this is your captain speaking.” British Airways made a similar move in October last year, but was branded ‘woke’ by critics.
The term “woke” is slang that refers to those who have an active awareness of systemic injustices and prejudices, especially those related to civil and human rights. However, in recent years “woke” has developed a more pejorative meaning and is often used as an insult for various progressive movements, Dorset Live reports.
TUI hopes that the move will be more inclusive for its staff and passengers, but many have taken to Twitter calling the changes “nonsense”.
Bob Lister, from Poole, who was once council election candidate and agent for UKIP candidate David Young, took to social media to share his thoughts. In a tweet, he wrote: “TUI tells cabin crew to use gender-neutral language for passengers. More woke nonsense!” While Dr David Bull, Talk TV host and former MEP also took to social media and branded the move as “madness”.
He tweeted: “More wokeness. When will this madness stop? TUI tells cabin crew to use gender-neutral language for passengers.” Despite claims of wokeness, the holiday firm says it is committed to ensuring the company is as inclusive as possible for its staff and customers.
A TUI spokesperson said: “As a truly global business we’re committed to making sure our colleagues and customers feel that TUI is an inclusive environment and always feel welcome with us. We therefore encourage all our pilots and crew to ensure all public announcements onboard our aircraft are inclusive and this has been the case for some time.”
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