So, No Flying Air Canada For Me.

I do identify myself as a man (that is a Gentleman) and my wife as a woman (that is a Lady--she is a real deal, unlike me being a Gentleman), so Air Canada for us becomes problematic: 

Air Canada flight staff will no longer greet passengers by calling them "ladies and gentlemen," the company announced, in an effort to include all genders. Instead of the gender-specific "ladies and gentlemen" (or French "mesdames et messieurs"), flight attendants are to address passengers as "everybody" or "tout le monde" instead.

Aw, isn't it lovely? So progressive and so...fabulous.

Earlier this year, US airlines represented by the Airlines for America trade group — including American, United, and Southwest — announced that they would add an "X" option for non-binary passengers on their boarding passes from June 2019. In March, United Airlines also became the first in the US to launch non-binary gender options for customers booking flights — it now offers the gender-neutral title "Mx" alongside "Mr" and "Ms."

So, I guess, airlines will offer an appropriate rigorous training for their "valued" employees because, as we all know, respecting "non-binary" citizenry is one of the most important tasks flight-crews must solve. In related news:

Boeing stock seesawed Monday after the board stripped CEO Dennis Muilenburg of his chairman position late Friday, as the aerospace giant tries to get the Boeing (BA) 737 Max back in service. The board said the decision would allow Muilenburg to "focus full time on running the company," according to the release. The Boeing 737 Max was grounded in March following a second crash. The crashes killed a total of 346 people. "I am fully supportive of the board's action. Our entire team is laser-focused on returning the 737 Max safely to service and delivering on the full breadth of our company's commitments," Muilenburg said in the release. Blackstone (BX) Senior Managing Director and Head of Portfolio Operations David Calhoun, who has been on Boeing's board since 2009, will serve as non-executive chairman. Prior to joining Blackstone, Calhoun worked at General Electric (GE) and was head of its aircraft engine division. The move comes as the return to service of the 737 Max keeps getting pushed back, weighing on Boeing stock. While Muilenburg has predicted it will start flying again in early Q4, which started this month, airlines have repeatedly delayed their timelines. Last week, 737 Max customers American Airlines (AAL) and United Airlines (UAL) removed the plane from their schedules through early to mid-January, following a similar move from Southwest (LUV).

Oh, that oughta solve all Boeing's problems (sarc). Especially when the guy who helped to run GE and Caterpillar (and Boeing) to incredible successes (you know--stock prices), evidently, has an accounting background from Virginia Tech. He even wrote a book on how to become really, really successful. Like really, really successful, especially when running a market research firm and then transferring those relevant (sarc) skills into aerospace industry with all this industry's Quality Management Systems, Quality Assurance procedures, metrology, engineering, specifications and instructions, testing of the materials and systems--you know, all those things they "teach" in the classes on "how to win". Indeed, what can possibly go wrong? After all, Mr. Calhoun should write a second volume of his book on "how companies win" where he will expand on the incredibly "successful" B-737 Max and how he, yes, personally, supervised Boeing's clumsy response, which, together with him personally pushing for B-737 Max, ensured absolutely that Boeing "will win". And it continues to win ever since two B-737 Max crushed killing 300+ people despite the fact that American pilots (forget those "others") warned about issues with the plane on many occasions prior to those tragedies. Hey, what do those pilots know? Same goes to Boeing's B-767 based refueling aircraft. Shareholders were happy and that is the only thing that matters, right? I hope they will arrive, eventually, to the right conclusions at Boeing to address the situation. I am all for real competition in this field, which, as we may learn from this all--exposes weaknesses immediately. I am against any monopoly in this field. In aerospace it is not a good idea.  

In general, one is forced, at this stage, viewing this avalanche of not very inspiring (to put it mildly) news from US real economy, reflect on the way true competence and, once legendary, American engineering prowess is being completely diluted with financialization of the whole economy into oblivion, where the only measure of quality becomes, such as a cancerous political correctness and institutionalization of mental abnormality in social life, in it being completely false,  an economic equivalency of "bottom line" and stock pricing. It is the road to hell.