American Airlines begins offering non-binary gender options during booking process
American Airlines has quietly rolled out non-binary gender options for customers during the booking process. Customers looking to make such a designation will have to call the airline, though the option will be rolled out on its website soon.
People can now designate "U" or "X" for their gender.
"We recently completed a system update to offer non-binary gender selections," American spokesman Ross Feinstein confirmed to USA TODAY. "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."
Customers can call to update reservations with new gender designation for free.
United became the first U.S. airline to give customers non-binary gender options while booking their flights back in March.
The airline worked with LGBTQ organizations The Human Rights Campaign and The Trevor Project on training employees in conjunction with these updates. Such training included the use of preferred pronouns.
"By providing non-binary gender selection for ticketing and the gender-inclusive honorific 'Mx' in user profiles, United Airlines is taking an important step forward for non-binary inclusion," Beck Bailey, acting director of the Workplace Equality Program at the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement at the time.
United's announcement came after two big trade groups – Airlines for America (A4A) in the USA and the global International Air Transport Association (IATA) – recently approved a new international best-practices standard that suggests accommodation for travelers using "non-binary IDs."
The suggested standard is to create an option for "unspecified" or "undisclosed" for passengers booking tickets. That option would be in addition to the options for "male" or "female."
It is up to individual airlines to make the option available to their booking platforms.
The nation's five biggest U.S. airlines – American, Delta, United, Southwest and Alaska airlines – all previously told USA TODAY that they plan to implement the trade groups’ suggestion.
Southwest spokesperson Ro Hawthorne gave USA TODAY the same statement the airline has given several times on the topic: "Please know that while we don’t have a timeframe to share, Southwest is currently investigating solutions and the technical requirements needed to provide our customers non-binary gender marker options during the booking process."
The situation at Alaska Airlines is also fluid.
"The appropriate teams at Alaska are working to finalize our plans and still determining when this capability will be available to our guests," spokesperson Ray Lane told USA TODAY, adding that the company is "committed to providing non-binary gender options for our guests when booking and traveling."
Kate Modolo, spokesperson for Delta, also said they are working on the capability, reflecting what the airline told USA TODAY in March.
"Delta works throughout our business to accommodate the needs of our diverse customers," said Modolo. "As part of that effort, we are exploring options to be even more inclusive by offering a non-binary gender option during the booking process."
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Contributing: Ben Mutzabaugh
United was first: United Airlines announces new non-binary gender booking options; other airlines exploring
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: American Airlines: Non-binary gender options available for booking
