GA Lt. Governor Reveals Who He Really Represents- The NRA

For the last few political cycles since I've came back home to Texas in May 2010, the Republican TV commercial I see love to have the tagline of 'proven conservative leadership'. 

To me and everyone else in reality based world who pays attention to politics, the only thing that 'proven conservative leadership' proves is how off the charts stupid it is.

The latest example of that comes from Atlanta.   Delta Airlines has been headquartered in the ATL since 1941, and is the largest carrier at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.  It is also the world's second largest airline and one of Atlanta and the state of Georgia's largest private employers, with over 33,000 workers in the state of Georgia.

So when Delta asked the state to cut it some slack on the Georgia jet fuel tax, the GOP controlled state legislature, in order to lend credibility to its 'business friendly' political mantra, began to oblige it by putting together legislation to restore a $50 million jet fuel sales tax exemption in a large tax reform package requested by Gov.Nathan Deal (R).

While it as billed as a boon to all airlines, the primary beneficiary would be ATL based Delta. 
The bill sailed through the Georgia House and was in the process of doing the same thing in the Georgia Senate when the February 14 Parkland, FL mass shooting happened and Delta, with United Airlines following suit two hours later, ended the discount National Rifle Association (NRA) members get. for using them to travel to the NRA's annual conference which will be held in Dallas (for now)..

Delta joined a growing list of companies that are ending partnerships with the NRA in the wake of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that killed 17 people.

That pissed off Georgia Lt, Governor Casey Cagle (R) who is not only running to replace the term limited Gov. Nathan Deal (R), but has an A+ rating from the NRA he brags about.  Cagle is also considered the favorite to get the GOP nomination 

He tweeted to Delta in the wake of it, (and probably set himself up for an extortion charge) that he would kill any tax break that Delta benefits from unless the NRA discount was reinstated.

An NRA airline discount that has only been used 13 times in the last 5 years.

The GOP controlled Georgia Senate then followed through on Cagle's threat by cutting the jet fuel tax exemption from the tax cut bill Gov. Deal wanted before passing it. 

Atlanta was in the running for Amazon's second headquarters before this happened, so it remains to be seen if they get it now.   Meanwhile cities that praised Delta's move began to pitch Delta about moving their hub to their areas.

"Hey @delta—Virginia is for lovers and airline hubs. You're welcome here any time," tweeted Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam. 

".@Delta, if Georgia politicians disagree with your stand against gun violence, we invite you to move your headquarters to New York," tweeted New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Randall Woodfin, mayor of Birmingham, Ala., also told Delta his city was open for business."Hey @Delta . You know, in mathematics, Delta represents the change in something, e.g. 🔺HQ. Let’s chat. #BHM," Woodfin tweeted Feb. 27.

Even Cagle had to admit after dissing the airline and killing its tax break Delta's importance to the state's economy, calling the dispute a 'family squabble'.

But Delta's probably not feeling the love for Cagle or his Georgia Republicans, and may do some political punishing of their own by bankrolling dome Democratic candidates in the state

I sure hope that's the result of this.

If this political posturing and attacking of Delta ends up getting Cagle the Republican nomination for governor, I hope Georgians remember that this man revealed that he cares more about the NRA than them, and it results in this Black woman, Stacey Abrams, being elected governor of Georgia on November 6.

Airline Customer Service Matters

Been getting asked about my thoughts since I worked in the airline biz and this recent incident in Chicago happened once again on United which merged with my old carrier.

I defended them in the last incident because it involved non-rev passengers and you do have dress code rules you have to follow for traveling on a non-revenue pass.  I felt they were being unjustly attacked for that dress code mess.

Now in this latest incident that happened, while I understand the situation that drove them to have to solicit for volunteers to get off the last flight to Louisville to put a must ride crew on, is still WTF level and indefensible.

It's also an unfolding PR disaster to add to the other ones United has had this year.

I've been in that situation as someone who worked IAH departure gates in which a must ride crew suddenly pops up at the last moments before departure on a full flight and I have to solicit for oversale volunteers because they must be on that plane to take it out on time from that outstation city in the morning

And yes, it is like pulling teeth to get volunteers in that situation, but if you make the deal sweet enough, eventually you'll get them.   In the situation I encountered, I needed two seats for a captain and a first officer,   It took me $1000 vouchers for each of the two passengers I needed to give up seats, 50,000 OnePass miles, dinner and seats on the next bird four hours later to make it happen.

This situation on the UA Chicago-Louisville flight could have and should have been handled far better than it disastrously turned out.  Some folks need to lose jobs including the security guard and whoever is handling public relations for United.

It is definitely as of this writing negatively affecting UA's stock price, it's got United once again taking a PR beatdown in the news to the point even the White House has commented on the incident, and its stock price has fallen 6% since the Dow Jones opened today.

Air travel is still the best and only way to travel long distances quickly. But since we have gone down via mergers to four major national airlines (American, Delta, United and Southwest) plus smaller regional carriers like JetBlue, Frontier, Spirit and Alaska, some airlines have forgotten the lesson that superior customer service can increase profits.

During my 14 years in the airline business, I watched Continental go from during my time there from 1987-2001 from one of the worst during the Frank Lorenzo regime to under Gordon Bethune winning multiple JD Power awards.  We did so by emphasizing customer service, on time performance.and a corporate culture that emphasized treating employees with dignity and respect

The emphasis on customer service, treating customers and employees with dignity and respect and on time performance in the 90's took us from bankruptcy in 1993 to profitability in a very short time, and led to us being in that strong financial position when the merger with United happened.

I've noted the decline in airline customer service in the 2000's as carriers focused on becoming larger.  When you do have a flight with a meal service, you have to pay for it   You have to pay to check bags.  It's past time airlines started emphasizing customer service again instead of coming up with ways of how to squeeze every last dollar out of you when you fly.

They'll discover that when you relentlessly focus on customer service and treating employees and passengers with respect, the end result is you'll build a brand loyalty that will be profitable for you and your fiscal bottom line long term.
Airlines also need to relearn the message and recite it like a mantra that airline customer service matters.

You Ride On An Airline Pass, Gotta Follow That Airline's Pass Rules

I worked in the airline business for 14 years and transitioned in the middle of my time there at IAH's Terminal C.   One of my perks as an CAL airline employee was reduced rate non-revenue travel on mine and every airline on the planet that we had an interline agreement with.  

And yes, Moni did her share of domestic non-revenue travel of which I will expound upon in future TransGriot posts in terms of the joys and pains of airline travel while trans in the 90's.

I was a gate agent, CSR and a gate supervisor during my time with Continental, which meant that one of my job duties was to enforce the dress code for pass riders.

When I started at CAL in 1987, the employee pass policy of the time stated employees had to wear business attire, regardless of whether we were sitting in coach or first class or doing business or leisure non-rev travel.

That meant suits and ties for the guys, dresses, slacks or pantsuits with hose for women.

When that policy was crafted, flying was considered a luxurious and status filled way to travel, and people dressed that upscale way when they did so.   It also made it easier for employees to get bumped up to first class if those were the only available seats left to put non-revs in on a full flight.

But because the airline business was changing in early 1987 and becoming a more common way to travel, folks in both classes of service started dressing more casually to do so.  The advent of frequent flyer programs like our OnePass one made upgrades happen more often, and us more formally dressed CAL airline employees following the company pass policies of the time stick out like sore thumbs when we non-revved on flights around the country and the world.

The policy was changed so that we could dress in a more business casual style, but you still had items that we CAL employees couldn't wear when we did partake in non-rev travel.   When the buddy pass program was implemented in the late 90's, that company pass policy and its rules also extended to the people that we allowed to travel on our passes.  If they violated them, the punishment could extend to suspension or in the case of an egregious violation of those policies termination of buddy pass and non-revenue travel for the employee.

So yes, I was extremely careful about who I gave my ten buddy passes per year allotment out to, and in many cases when possible and I wasn't working, I traveled with the buddy pass rider to ensure they followed our airline's non-rev policies to the letter.

Non revenue travel can also be stress inducing at times for the employee and the gate agent working the flight, especially if it's to a popular destination or during holidays. which is why I actually do more flying now that I'm not in the airline business than I did when I had the ability to fly around the world for next to nothing cost wise.

When we flew non-rev, we were also considered representatives of the company, which is why the dress code rules were around in the first place.

So when I heard this story about the teen girls being denied boarding on a United flight for wearing leggings and changing into dresses in order to fly, it brought me back to those days when I would have to diplomatically explain to someone screaming epithets at me that no, you can't travel wearing a bathing suit or Daisy Duke shorts on a flight while traveling on a buddy pass,. The flight was leaving on time from this gate, and you needed to change clothes ASAP if you wanted to fly on that pass and on that plane out of IAH today to your final destination.

I also had to explain to peeps from time to time that you couldn't fly on a pass barefoot, in flip flops, ripped jeans, tube tops or any attire that exposed your undergarments or revealed too much flesh.
.

So I had to shake my head and chuckle at all these folks who don't have an airline background commenting on what happened at that United gate in Denver.  They basically took half the story and did some loud and wrong running at the mouth facts free commentary about it.

Maybe at the time those policies were crafted for the merged Continental/United carrier, leggings weren't considered professional attire.  Fashion has evolved to where leggings have become a fashion forward item.   I also see this as a textbook case of someone getting half the story and stirring up misplaced outrage without having all of the facts.

United had every right to enforce their non-rev pass rules.  It is part of a gate agent's job to enforce those rules when they are violated whether the person violating them is a veteran UA employee or a teen traveling on a buddy pass.

How it's done depends on the circumstances.   But it still doesn't change the salient fact that if you're riding on a airline pass, whether you have an airline employee's badge or are traveling on that employee's passes, for that moment you are considered a representative of that carrier, and you still have to follow that airline's pass rules.

Air Marshal Taking Mystery Trip

The Air Marshal is taking a flight again, and this time it's for a pleasure trip to a double secret destination. 

I'll have to connect through Chicago Midway to get there, and hopefully I won't have the drama I had when I flew through there earlier this month.

I'll be getting to my destination in the Eastern time zone around 12:55 PM assuming everything is on schedule.

This trip is happening because not only do i need to get out of H-town or a few days, I had a voucher in my possession I needed to use and complete travel for by mid September before it expired, and I wasn't letting a $525 one go to waste. 

My host asked me to keep the destination a secret so when I started showing up at places after I arrive in that final destination, It'll be a surprise at least until the word gets out on social media I'm there..

But looking forward to going there.  See y'all in a few hours mystery city denizens.

The Air Marshal's Travel Day From Hell

As someone who spent 14 years in the aviation industry (and misses it at times) and is flying around the country for different events, I love traveling by air. 

Veteran trans activists still call me Air Monica or the Air Marshal because back in the late 90's when I started as an activist I became the trans community's rapid response team.   When a crisis or snap protest needed some national trans leadership support, because I was an airline employee at the time and could easily do so, if if happened on my days off, I was hopping a flight to your vicinity

So as many of you know I spent an enjoyable two days in Boston with Tiq, Kellee, Kenyon and many of the wonderful peeps who attended the National Association of Black Journalists conference there and is still going on with more seminars today.    I also had a trip from heaven up to Boston for it on Wednesday.

My panel was fun but serious business.  We discussed talking about the issue of trans coverage in the media and how Black journalists can do a better job of it because frankly, they must.

It is import that the media, and especially journalists who share our ethnic background get it right.

I got to meet many of the people involved with the organizations LGBT Task Force and get an invitation to join it.  I was also bummed I missed their reception last night.

I even had some fangirl moment when I got to see ESPN's Michael Wilbon walking the halls as eager journalism students stopped him in the halls to take photos. I thought I saw one of my journalism idols in former ABC News anchor Carole Simpson   I bumped into Mark Thompson while grabbing a Dunkin donut in the massive mall that was between my hotel and the Hynes Convention Center.

I even ran into Houston's Mary Benton, who interviewed me during the HERO fight and FOX 26 Isiah Carey when I showed up in the Sheraton bar post panel with my fellow panelists, Jonathan and Chris from the LGBT Task Force to talk about some other issues and our lives..    

And yes, seriously thinking about becoming a member of NABJ.   Next year's conference is in Minneapolis, so get ready Twin Cites. 

So as I mentioned, I had the travel day from hell and it started that morning in Boston. 

After getting up at 5:30 AM EDT to check out of my room and allow time for my train ride to Logan Airport so I can clear TSA security and make my 9:05 AM departure to MDW and home, I bounce to the Back Bay station to start my trip on the Orange Line.

I'm ready to leave the room at 6:30 AM and after dropping off my room key and getting direction from the bell captain, I made one wrong turn trying to get to it that put me in the Copley Square Mall's parking garage. I finally the station at 6:55 AM  and the MBTA ticket machines so I can purchase my ticket to start the journey to Logan.  Of the two available one is out and the other is being electronically recalcitrant and timing out my transaction before I have a chance to complete the purchase.   I know the clock's ticking and I need to make forward progress toward Logan so I hit the call box to get some help.

A friendly sister MBTA employee starts trying to get the machine to work and I miss one northbound Orange Line train in the process.  Fortunately it's rush hour, and and she makes some failed attempts to get the recalcitrant ticketing machine to do its job sends me on my way with her apologies.

But I didn't have a ticket or receipt, and flashbacking to home and METRO transit cops patrolling the METRORail trains looking for peeps trying to ride free and getting ticketed for it made for an anxiety filled MBTA train ride as I moved closer to my Orange Line transfer station to the Blue Line that would take me to Logan.

I eventually arrive at the Airport Station and just miss the shuttle bus heading to the airport.   The next one arrives five minutes later and unlike my inbound trip when I went from Terminal E straight to the station, I have to do the Tour De Logan this time including a stop at the Rental Car Center..

Then I get to Terminal E, check the monitor to find my gate and as I'm approaching TSA security realize I can't find my tickets.  The panic that registered on my face led the TSA security personnel to give me the full treatment including scan, pat down by female officer and swabbing of both hands before being allowed to proceed to the gate. 

I get to the gate, get on my flight, we leave early and get to Midway early around 10:40 AM CDT.   I gt to gate B14 and settle in for my what was supposed to be a 1.5 hour wait as visions of Pappas barbecue are dancing in my head along with my fave R&B tunes playing on my laptop.

Then I notice as I look out the windows of Gate B15 an ominous darkening of clouds heralded the pop up thunderstorm that would ruin my travel day.   Moments later it unleashed a torrential rain so intense that I couldn't see the Southwest hangar buildings or the off airport property treeline.

And once I heard our inbound aircraft making up our Houston trip diverted to Milwaukee, my feeling of impending airline travel doom was confirmed.    The short but intense storm caused 20 planes to divert and triggered a creeping delay on my originally scheduled 12:30 PM departure that got backed up to 1:45 PM, then 2:30 PM, then 3:55 PM.   Meanwhile as I'm sitting there I think about the fact the plane I got off of was continuing to San Antonio and a delayed flight next door on B12 was going to New Orleans.

As we're sitting in the ever more increasingly crowded lobby area in B12-14, plugs to recharge our electronic devices are at a premium.  A renovation project has started in the gate lobby areas to add the nice leather chairs with plugs Southwest has in many of its airports at Midway.  The comfy chairs were there, but weren't plugged in so you could charge or run your devices on them.    

Speaking of not plugged in, it was at that point we also discovered that Midway doesn't have free WiFi.  

Note to Chicago Airport Authority:  Join the rest of us in the 21st century and offer free WiFi to your citizens and passengers transiting through your airports.  It damned sure would have come in handy during this delay situation.  

A bitter joke starts circulating amongst many of the stranded travelers that MDW stands for Motherf*****g Damned Weather and other more profane combinations that you can come up with for Midway's IATA designation.   

At approximately 5 PM the news comes that Flight 2314 has been canceled.   I know my gate agents are going to be overwhelmed, so I head up the hall to B-9 to find out which one of the two remaining fights from MDW to Hobby I've been booked on.    I discover from the friendly B-9 gate agent I'm on the one that is scheduled for 7:15 PM but is delayed until 9 PM back on gate B-14.

After checking the flight, I call Tiq Milan who is still at the NABJ convention, tell him I'm stuck in Chicago and ask him to help me get in contact with some of the peeps I know in the Chitown trams community since I left my phone book with those numbers in Houston thing I wouldn't need it..

Note to self:  From now on, bring that damned phone book with you.  

I also call Mom to let her know I was stuck in Chicago, because I was supposed to be back in Houston originally at 3:10 PM.  I also tell her I'm formulating a back up plan in case this delayed one I'm on now gets canceled for whatever reason and I have to spend the night in Chicago.

I eventually get calls from Myles Brady and Jen Richards, and it's agreed that if I have to stay in Chicago, it'll be at Jen's place.  I seriously considered just saying frack it and asking to be rebooked in the morning and heading over there since I'd been up since 5:30 AM Boston time and I'd spent 6 hours in the crowded confines of MDW already, but I wasn't feeling another encounter with TSA security.  

I also had a HERO meeting I wanted to attend in Houston that started at 12 noon Saturday, and was going to do my utmost to get back to the Lone Star State for it, even if it was in the wee hours of the morning.

Those of us who were on the cancelled Houston fight by now were bonding.   Holding seats for each other if one of us got up to use the bathroom, discussing our lives and several crowding around one person's laptop so we could watch the Astros-Blue Jays game with a Cubs fan originating in.Chicago but headed to Houston to visit family.

We finally got some good news-bad news about our delayed Houston flight around 8 PM.  We have a plane, a first officer and enough flight attendants to board our flight, but would have to wait for a captain and a replacement flight attendant to round out the crew.   We also weren't boarding it until about 9:30 PM and it would be through gate B-12.

We end up boarding our flight around 10 PM and sat on board as we waited for our flight attendant and captain.  We get our sister flight attendant around 10:15 PM and our captain 5 minutes later.   After the timed out FA briefs the new arrival as to what's up, she leaves.   Gate agent places final departure paperwork in cockpit around 10:30 PM and shuts the main cabin door.   At 10:30 PM, exactly 12 hours after I arrived in MDW for what was supposed to be a 1.5 hour layover, our 737-800 pushed back from gate B-12 destination Houston and takes off a few minutes later.

But the fun isn't over yet.  Flight attendants are advised by our captain to stay seated after takeoff, and we have to deal with bumpy air for the next 15-20 minutes of the flight as we escape the Chicago area.  We ducked and dodged storms as we crossed the Midwest enroute to Texas before it smoothed out and it was safe for the flight attendants and passengers to move around in the cabin.   

But once we hit 10,000 feet I didn't care because I had a whole row to myself and enough music for the 2 hour ride back to Houston.   Made up for me losing my A boarding position once the original flight cancelled.     

Eventually we flew over Dallas (and I waved at my Dallas peeps as we did so) and an hour later we were on final approach to Hobby.   We finally touched down and pulled into our arrival gate at 1:45 AM Saturday.

After having some great travel experiences over the last year, even including the trip up to Boston, it was just a matter of time before the law of averages caught up with me and I'd have a negative one.  Airline travel can be like that sometimes.   But the one thing I'm most concerned about with any airline trip is getting me from Point A to Point B safely. 

And on that, Southwest gets an A+ despite all the weather induced drama that caused me to spead a lot more time in Chicago than I'd planned.     
       

Trans Flight Attendant Elected To Presidency Of Her Union Local

When I was in the airline business, there were rumors that we had four trans flight attendants working for our carrier at the time I was becoming the first out Black trans person working at Continental Airlines in 1994.

One of those flight attendants was allegedly based in Honolulu, while the other three were alleged to be flying routes out of our other domestic bases besides Houston.  Depending on where they were based, they may have crossed my path because I worked the departure gates at IAH and I have no idea if they worked my flights or not because they didn't reveal their status to my very out self.   

So as a former airline person I was happy to hear about the groundbreaking and historic win of girl like us flight attendant Audrey Gauthier.   Back on November 1 she was elected president of CUPE Local 4041, and represents Air Transat flight attendants based in Montreal

With that win she became the first open trans person to elected to lead a union local in Canada and possibly the world.   But Gauthier downplayed the historic achievement. 
l
“I’m proud to be the first transsexual member elected president of a local, and for LGBTTI rights it’s something that’s important, but our members don’t really see me as different. They just see me as a woman, period,” she said.  

Gauthier.added, “I was elected to unite people. My goal is to build a strong relationship between the local and our component.”

Congratulations and may you have much success in accoplishing that goal as you fly the friendly Canadian skies. 
    

This Racist Joke About A Plane Crash Isn't Funny

Somebody either at KTVU-TV or the NTSB is in serious trouble for a racist joke that ended up getting broadcast as news on a San Francisco television station.    

Some genius thought it would be hilarious to come up with offensive names for the pilots of Asiana Flight 214 that crashed in San Francisco last Saturday with now three people dead.

NTSB policy is to not release the names of pilots or crewmembers involved in aviation accidents to the media. When KTVU-TV called Friday morning wishing to do just that and get that information for their ongoing local reporting on the story, according to a NTSB press release a summer intern acting outside their authority erroneously released the names that ended up being read during their noon broadcast.

When they realized the embarrassing error, KTVU-TV apologized on air and on their website blaming the NTSB

Despite the finger pointing at each other, both organizations quickly apologized and owned up to their parts in the station being pranked. 

But you also have to ask yourself how diverse is KTVU-TV's staff if a racist list of names got through their multilayered fact checking verification process in a station that has a broadcast area with a sizable Asian population?

It also isn't funny because three people have died so far in this aviation accident with six others still hospitalized and being treated for their injuries as the NTSB investigation into the crash continues.

NTSB has promised action to ensure it doesn't happen again.  But whoever did it better start updating their resume. 

TransGriot Update: The Asian American Journalists Association is justifiably pissed off about what happened and isn't buying the clueless act of the NTSB or KTVU-TV.   Somebody in one of those orgs came up with the offensive name list.    

PC Air Hits Some Business Turbulence

The ten month old Thai airline PC Air that garnered international attention and publicity when it hired trans flight attendants for its crews, has hit some business turbulence since its maiden December 2011 flight.

The fledgling carrier's lone Airbus 310-222 was stuck at Seoul's Incheon airport because the company has not paid its overdue airport charges and fuel fees and South Korean authorities wouldn't allow it to take off last Tuesday.  . 

That left a total of 400 people stranded- 200 at Incheon and another 200 people waiting for the aircraft arrival in Bangkok to take them to South Korea. 

The stranded charter flight passengers were put on three Thai Airways flights and another flight arranged by PC Air management as their CEO Peter Chan jetted to South Korea to resolve the issues.  

PC Air cited unspecified problems and a dispute with their South Korean agent Skyjet that caused the airline to fall behind on the fuel and airport fee payments and put the airline in jeopardy of losing its operating license which is valid until 2015.   

PC Air continues to operate its scheduled flights between its Bangkok hub to Incheon and Hong Kong and reportedly plans to add two used Boeing 767s capable of carrying more than 200 passengers to its fleet starting in December. 

While the Thai Transport Ministry is unlikely to strip PC Air of its operating license despite loud calls to do so, the charter license under Thai aviation law is on a monthly renewal basis and will expire on October 31.  The Thai Transportation Ministry will not renew th charter license until PC Air proves to their satisfaction that what occurred at Incheon will not happen again.  

The controversial Transportation Ministry decision was based on its desire to see PC Air work out their business problems and compensate the passengers inconvenienced by the grounding of their aircraft.

Lets hope for the sake of our trans sisters working for PC Air that their former flight attendant CEO gets their airline business end straightened out.  I and transpeople around the world would like them to continue flying the friendly skies from the Land of Smiles and have a solvent and prosperous PC Air be around to hire more of their sisters.

The PC Air Trans Flight Attendants Take Flight

Been tracking this ongoing story about Bangkok-based PC Air and it hiring trans flight attendants.  

After the initial wave of news coverage, the story was dormant for a while until another burst of press coverage about the fledgling airline showed the initial group of four flight attendants, Nathatai Sukkaset,  Dissanai Chitpraphachin, Chayathisa Nakmai, and Phuntakarn Sringern going through training. 

PC Air took its inaugural flight from Bangkok to Surat Thani with the trans flight attendants on board as the cabin crew. 


Some photos have finally emerged with the trans flight attendants it hired doing their thing in the skies above Asia.  

It just demonstrates a few things that I and my transbrothers and transsisters all over the world already know.  If we are just given a chance to do the job and earn decent wages while doing so, we will not only rise to the challenge, but do it well.  

It also gives us another opportunity to not only blaze trails for the transpeople that will follow in our footsteps, but do some mythbusting about what we can and cannot do at the same time

May the trans flight attendants of PC Air continue to have success and hopefully open some minds and doors so that transpeople in other nations have the same opportunity to work for the domestic airlines in their respective nations if they aren't doing so already. 

Canadian Air Travel Regulation Changes Concern Trans People On Both Sides Of The Border

Air travel is a stressful enough situation for trans people to endure, especially when we have combinations of identity documents that may or may not match our current gender presentations for various reasons.  

Mercedes Allen has a post up at her Dented Blue Mercedes blog which comments about a Canadian regulatory change in the Aeronautics Act pushed through by Harper government ministerial fiat that may affect the trans communities on both sides of our shared border.  

The air travel regulation change  happened July 29.  It has trans Canadians concerned and has the potential to cause problems for transpeople of other nations either flying to, from or transiting Canada if they possess documents that don't reflect their gender presentation.

Sec 5.2(1)(c) of the ID screening regs of Aeronautics Act "An air carrier shall not transport a passenger if the passenger does not appear to be of the gender indicated on the identification he or she presents."



Hmm.  That's problematic to say the least.   What if you're from a province that will not allow you to change gender markers on your ID without surgery?   The Canadian government also will not allow you to change the gender marker on your passport without proof of surgical reassignment or a letter guaranteeing you will undergo SRS within a year..

So in a nutshell, our Canadian transpeeps in that mismatched gender marker situation are effectively banned from flying on airplanes inside or out of their nation.

There are also a few US states that will not allow you to change the gender marker on ID without proof of SRS either, but that is mitigated somewhat by the State Department regulations allowing us to obtain United States passports with the correct gender marker without surgical intervention.  

The regulation's unintended (?) discriminatory consequences needs to be pointed out to Transport Canada.