Travelling can be stressful enough without unexpected hiccups at the airport. For many Australian travellers, a smooth journey begins with a hassle-free check-in process. However, a recent incident involving Jetstar’s booking system has highlighted a ‘ridiculous’ problem that has sparked calls for change and raised questions about gender bias in the airline industry.
The issue came to light when Dr Amanda McConnell, a trauma specialist, encountered a delay at the baggage check-in desk while flying from Cairns to Brisbane. Despite having checked in online, Dr McConnell was informed by a Jetstar flight attendant that her online check-in had to be cancelled and redone manually. The reason? Jetstar’s system automatically assumed she was male because she had selected the title ‘Doctor’.
‘I was shocked that in 2025 they’ve still got software that defaults doctors to being male… it’s ridiculous,’ Dr McConnell said. This revelation was particularly surprising given her frequent travels with Jetstar for work over the last 20 years, during which she may have been unknowingly listed as male.
The problem doesn’t seem to be an isolated incident. After sharing her experience, Dr McConnell discovered that many of her female doctor colleagues had faced similar issues. Some even chose to forgo their ‘Dr’ title when travelling to avoid inconvenience.
This situation has led to a broader discussion about gender inclusivity and the responsibility of companies to ensure their systems and policies reflect modern values. Dr McConnell criticised Jetstar for maintaining an ‘outdated’ system that perpetuates ‘unnecessary and avoidable gender bias’.
In response to the outcry, Jetstar defended its practices by stating that the airline ‘does not assign a gender to the title of Doctor on our customer-facing channels.’ However, they acknowledged that in their back-end system, the title ‘Doctor’ defaults to the ‘highest weight category’ for aircraft weight calculations, which is defined as ‘adult male’ according to guidelines from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).
‘To calculate the weight and balance of flights, non-gender specific prefixes such as Doctor are assigned the highest weight category, which the backend of our legacy IT system defines as ‘adult male’ in line with CASA guidelines,’ the Jetstar spokesperson clarified.
Jetstar denied intentionally perpetuating gender bias and expressed a commitment to finding more gender-inclusive options for their booking process.
This incident has brought attention to how travel systems and policies interact with customer experiences. As the conversation continues, different perspectives are emerging on how such matters are handled.
Have you experienced something similar while travelling? What are your thoughts on how booking systems could better serve all passengers? Share your stories and tips in the comments below.
Also read: Hope new standards will cut sex and gender bias in medical research
Why don’t they just check the passengers name. Amanda would hardly be male. That system is sexist 100%, no getting away from it. What about Professor. I worked wwith a pathologst who is a professor and female. Same thing there I suppose. !?