Apparently, an advisory committee last week recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration should replace certain terms that are related to airplane parts! Items such as “cockpit”, “airman”, and “manmade” with more inclusive language terms such as “machine made”, “aviator”, and “flight deck.”
The recommendations were made in a report issued last Wednesday by the Drone Advisory Committee and the Washington Post obtained this.
The committee is a subset of the FAA that is made up of representatives from 17 organizations in not only the local government, but airports, labor, and industry. They suggested that the drone industry needs to begin adopting gender-specific language to evolve along with society, and now they think that the FAA should follow suit.
“As it keeps growing and maturing, the drone industry now has an opportunity to embrace and use gender-neutral language that brings a new definition to their industry. We want it to be known as an industry that is respectful, welcoming, and valuable to the receiver,” the report said. “We are looking forward to continuing to work closely in assisting the FAA, the aviation industry, and the drone community as a whole in adopting and supporting these recommendations.” If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, I guess.
There were several gender-specific terms that had been recommended to be replaced, including terms such as “cockpit”, “airman”, “repairman”, “manned aviation”, “manmade”, “unmanned aviation” and naturally, they will be seeking to replace the well-known terms “he”, “she”, “her”, and “him.” They are looking to replace them with more inclusive terms such as “flight deck”, “aviator”, “machine made”, “traditional aviation”, and “uncrewed aviation.”
The committee argued that exclusionary language can be a large part of the reason that “women and other minorities and other marginalized groups are significantly underrepresented in the aviation industry.”
“We all should work to avoid imprecise and exclusionary language because that can help create a work environment where all the workers feel safe sharing their views, and this should also improve operational and psychological safety,” the report noted. “Research has shown that utilizing gender-neutral language can make the environment more inclusive, draw more people to the industry, and keep them there as well.”
The committee also argued that the aviation industry has had a long history of “homogeneous gender and racial participation.”
The committee noted that these language changes won’t automatically result in a more diverse workforce, but they think that it will be an important first step. What’s more, it looks like the FAA is on board as well.
I don’t know about you, but I’m not concerned about whether people are offended or not. When I am a passenger on a plane, what is my utmost concern? I’ll tell you what it is…..can they keep that plane in the air and get me to my destination safely? Entrusting our safety to a bunch of snowflakes is going to go over like a lead balloon.
What are your thought on this latest activity from the “Woke Brigade”?
