The Return Of ‘Woke’ United Airlines

News and notes from around the interweb:

  • I clearly need to update my post on Woke United Airlines as they’re telling employees to add their pronouns to email signatures and when introducing themselves to others (“My name is Jane and my pronouns are they/them/theirs.”). Fortunately I live in Texas so I can just refer to folks as “y’all.”

    Pronouns are used in everyday conversation to refer to either the people talking (like “I” or “you”) or someone or something that is being talked about (like “she,” “it,” “them,” and “this”). We use gender pronouns to refer to each other’s gender identity and usually interpret or “read” a person’s gender based on their outward appearance and expression, and “assign” a pronoun. This can be harmful as the reading may not be a correct interpretation of a person’s internal, individual experience of gender. There are non-binary individuals who may identify as fluctuating between genders, having two or more genders, being third gender or even having no gender at all, so it is important that we normalize the courteous question, “What are your pronouns?”

    Need I mention that United had men-only flights until 1970?

  • 10,000 Emirates Business Rewards points just for registering by July 27. (HT: One Mile at a Time)

  • Boozed-up Jet2 passenger had to be locked in plane toilet after trying to BITE cabin crew in drunken rage. It was a Jet2 flight, so a Hebrew phrase comes to mind… Ma nishtana ha-laila ha-zeh mi-kol ha-leilot.

  • Qantas claims to have invented business class, is it true? Thai Airways used the words first, Pan An Clipper Class predated Qantas business class by a year, but Qantas may have been first with better seats in the separate cabin.

  • I love this (HT: Paul H.)

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Compulsory pronoun revelations harm those who aren’t “out” with their gender identity. The preschool level description of what a pronoun is, is something else. United, save the money you’re paying the chief diversity officer.

  2. As my friend who did his Ph.D. at Texas A&M says, “‘Y’all’ is the most gender-inclusive word in the English language!”

  3. Using pronouns, especially in emails, is not just about gender identity. It help to save face and avoid awkward moments when someone has an ambiguous name (Pat, Ryan, Dana) or a name that you’re not familiar with.

  4. If someone asked me my pronoun I would just say call me bad ass MFer.

    This is ridiculous. The world has gone crazy and I refuse to bend to the liberal, woke activists. Hell I still call “Caitlin” Jenner Bruce!

  5. 31 years ago, I was assigned an age of zero, a gender of male, and race of Caucasian at birth. I now associate as a non-binary 15 year old African-American male. Accept it or I will cancel you.

  6. Anybody using pronouns is weak minded, shallow and lacks a backbone
    People do that because they want others to think they are superior….

  7. Why can’t these businesses such as UA focus on what they are supposed to be doing rather than getting involved in all of these ridiculous PC nonsense social issues. Sick and tired of this BS. !

  8. And yet, United still flies to or partners with airlines who fly to countries where a man claiming to be a woman would be put in jail or worse.
    The US government doesn’t need to make laws that are clearly unconstitutional, it just needs to “subsidize” the largest corporations that employ millions of people and get the corporations to do the dirty work for them.
    Must have got the idea from China.

  9. United is “inviting” and not telling employees—according to the quote in the article to which you refer. Get it right—I guess that would be less ‘click bait-y’ then? Oh and there is absolutely nothing wrong with a company inviting employees to do this. At the risk of being labeled ‘woke’ I see no problem with a corporation taking steps to make certain employees and customers more comfortable and valued.
    You can all return to your corners where you cower in fear of being canceled.

  10. Woke UA CEO Scott Kirby announces on every flight that “The primary culprit is jet fuel.” I think Scott Kirby is the primary culprit. He should cancel himself. Ship diesel is the dirtiest fuel. Jet fuel is one of the cleanest.

    I address people as “M”, not Mr Ms Mrs Miss Master (for children) etc. There are more pressing issues than titles and gender pronouns, like the numerous Boeing safety issues that continue to multiply.

  11. “You guys” seems to be the preferred method of address to my senior citizen friends and me by anyone in the service business under forty…. and that’s in metropolitan Atlanta.

  12. “My name is Jane and my pronouns are they/them/theirs.”

    I don’t care. Grow up.

  13. @Tony: No, no bigotry at all.

    Some of us are just not going to play the stupid, woke, game prize show.

  14. Is clarifying the use of pronouns “woke”? Really? That’s what you think it is?

    No, the evolution of pronouns, an entirely human construct that is utterly meaningless, is simply evolving to keep up with, well, evolution.

    Sorry cave-people. Get a grip.

  15. &joe
    No, you are wrong
    This is just insecure people trying to grab attention
    As I said, people who use or support pronouns are weak minded and shallow

  16. Pretty sure the amount of people offended by having to call a him a her and is vastly greater than the few people offended by being called a pronoun they think they aren’t. But somehow United and woke America thinks the gender confusion of some people should outweigh literally biology and oh about 100,000 years of spoken human language and the millions of people who would rather just be left alone. But United and Scott Kirby probably has to keep suckling on the Biden/US government financial teets so will do whatever is told of them to do.

  17. Tony your type of thinking is why we are in this mess. Being against the PC woke mentality doesn’t make you a bigot. It makes you look like a rational human being

    Kudos to 1KBrad who says “ Some of us are just not going to play the stupid, woke, game prize show.”

  18. This is such knee jerk Fox News reactionary boomer stuff, Gary.

    No one is REQUIRED to use these. They just provided an OPTION if an employee wanted to, and they provided the corporate support.

    Grow up, dude.

  19. The Usual Suspects just acting out in 1950s-era rage as their lord & savior Agent Orange looked and sounded…how shall we say, not great nor lucid yesterday

  20. @ua nyc
    As usual you are full of crap
    I am a life long demicrat and I still think anybody that even considers using pronouns is mentally ill

  21. “Fortunately I live in Texas so I can just refer to folks as “y’all.””.

    Line of the year so far.

    And the only sample entry in the Why I Live in Texas contest.

  22. @doug – many people said the same thing about LGBTQ people a couple decades ago…times change, right? It’s why “we” aren’t stuck in the 1950s.

  23. Ua nyc
    Once again, if you have inferiority complex or a chip on your shoulder you can use pronouns
    It will give you the perception that other people think you are enlightened so you can go on with your life

  24. “He says he is a Texan
    Though he has those Eastern ways.
    Some say he cooks his barbeque
    with sauce that’s called bernaise”.

    Eric Sevareid
    CBS News
    Night of nomination of George H.W, Bush for President, 1988

  25. Guess I’m fortunate to be confident and intelligent enough to know I am a man. No confusion here. Would like to continue as United 1K if they’ll want customers like me.

  26. “Apple” you need to put on your big boy or big girl pants open your eyes and look at all of the silliness that is going on around you. Corporate support should be for business related matters not social issues that are best left to others to do on their own free, time , not company $.

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