American Airlines has become the second U.S. carrier to feature more than two gender options, adding “U” and “X” designations for customers.
United Airlines was the first American airline to offer more than male and female options for ticket purchasers in March. American and others are following suit as airlines seek to adapt to regulatory changes in states that allow people to identify outside of the two traditional genders on driver’s licenses.
“We recently completed system updates in an ongoing effort to offer nonbinary gender selections,” American Airlines spokeswoman Stacy Day said. “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.”
The additional gender options are so far available to customers who call the airline directly to book a flight. American Airlines is still working on updating its website to accommodate the “U” and “X” options during online booking. The update will launch sometime in early 2020.
The airline industry’s two largest trade groups, Airlines for America and the International Air Transport Association, have also provided best practices guidance to all airlines on how to accommodate customers identify as a gender other than male or female. Delta and Southwest airlines are expected to be the next carriers to expand their gender options.
Airlines in other countries have also started making moves to better accommodate non-binary travelers. In October, Air Canada shared its plan to stop referring to guests as “ladies and gentlemen” in an effort to be conscious of gender fluidity. Instead, the airline will use neutral words, such as “everybody” during boarding announcements.
