Originally Posted by
skylady
The term flight attendant is gender neutral, where stewardess/steward requires specific gender. The change was made to lessen the confusion for the traveling public.
Is there something inherently wrong with gender specific titles? In some situations they are quite useful. E.g., two people (FAs, wait staff, TSAs, etc.), a man and a woman, are standing next to each other. You wish to ask one of them a question. "Excuse me, (stewardess/steward, waiter/waitress, sir/ma'am)" makes more sense than "Excuse me, Flight Attendant".
How was the traveling public confused?
P.S.: An earlier poster made the point that FA is less of a term of address than one of description. I agree. "Excuse me, Flight Attendant" just sounds odd.