Air travel has declined since COVID, and I can’t help but think this is just another progressive Rube-Goldbergian plan to get people to stop traveling. You make it too expensive or too much trouble or too expensive or inaccessible, or even dangerous.
They tried to jab all the pilots, Boeing went #woke, and planes broke. The Airlines have beenfalling in line on diversity quotas, so the Air Line Pilots Association International has decided that certain words are no longer appropriate for their members (while, ironically, the word ‘member’ is not prohibited).
“While the word ‘cockpit’ dates back to the 1900s, it has been and may be used in a derogatory way to exclude women in the piloting profession,” the guide explained, according to Breitbart. “Many women have heard a variation of ‘It is called a cockpit for a reason’ by a male pilot, suggesting that women do not belong in the piloting profession. The intent behind the use of the word is important. … While the word ‘cockpit’ dates back to the 1900s, it has been and may be used in a derogatory way to exclude women in the piloting profession. … Many women have heard a variation of ‘It is called a cockpit for a reason’ by a male pilot, suggesting that women do not belong in the piloting profession. The intent behind the use of the word is important.”
The word Cock, or (Old English) Cocc has a long history of referring to things male (and not in its current derogatory context), so I suppose there is room for consideration, especially if tradition or history is of no consequence but what the hell is this.
The APLA also dislikes using the terms “mother” and “father” because those “may inadvertently ignore different family structures,” such as “caregivers, same-sex parents, stepparents, families with adopted members, and more,” Breitbart noted.
I’ve known my fair share of biological men who were “mothers,” so I’m not inclined to agree. It is certainly not necessary for a pilots association to weigh in on the matter generally or amongst its “members.” People should feel free to call whatever it is whatever they like, and if they ask nicely, friends and family might be inclined to comply with the way people adopt someone’s preferred nickname out of courtesy.
And while corporations or incorporations bending to the cultural winds seems like a sensible thing to do, recent history has shown us that this trend is wholly incompatible with free speech and expression to the point of Obnoxious Orwellian principle. Those who do not speak outside the approved argot are the prevue or petty despots and aspiring tyrants. And pilots ought to be thinking about flying planes and the safety of passengers, not whether they are permitted to use the word cockpit to describe their office space.
After all, given that the criteria for hiring the people who build and maintain their aircraft are more focused on demographics than aptitude paying attention is more important than ever. We wouldn’t want Boeing or the ground crew accused of discrimination because its diverse hires caused a plane to crash that killed the diversity pilot who was trying to fly it from the thing up front where they operate the aircraft.
