Mom blasts Delta over booking options for non-binary child

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Delta Air Lines is feeling the heat after a mother in Arizona raged about the company’s limited gender options when passengers book flights online.

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Dawn Henry, 52, was attempting to buy a ticket for her non-binary 21-year-old when she came across the issue.

Henry shared her experience on Twitter — tagging Delta, of course — in what she described as “the ongoing saga of me trying to purchase a ticket for my non-binary adult child.”

The Transportation Security Administration asks travellers to identify themselves in accordance with their state-issued identification.

Henry’s child’s birth certificate and Washington state driver’s license are each marked with an “X,” however on the Delta site, the only choices are male or female.

In 2019, several major airlines committed to providing non-binary passengers a way to check in in accordance with how they identify. While American Airlines and United Airlines offer different distinctions, Delta — along with Southwest and JetBlue — do not.

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According to Henry, Delta said it is untrue that non-binary people are stopped from flying, but according to the frustrated mom, that’s not entirely accurate if customers can’t book tickets online with selecting male or female as their gender.

“When a policy makes it impossible to buy a ticket that will comport with TSA guidelines, the result is the same. And that’s discrimination,” she tweeted.

A Delta spokesperson told NBC News that the airline is working on the issue, adding that changing its systems to add a non-binary booking option is complicated. However, the airline plans on making that option available later this year.