Yahoo Finance Airline ditches mandatory heels and make-up for female cabin crew
Qantas, the Australian airline, will no longer require its female cabin crew to wear make-up and heels in an effort to be “reflective of the times”.
Under new guidance issued by the company, male employees will also be allowed to wear make-up, while both men and women employees will be allowed to wear all sorts of jewellery including large watches.
A spokesman for the airline said: “Fashions change, and so have our style guidelines over the years.
“We’re proud of our diversity and as well as bringing our guidelines up to date, these changes will make wearing our uniform more comfortable and practical for all of our people, including those with a wide range of body types and those from diverse cultural backgrounds.”
The airline’s policies are said to have been a source of frustration for some employees.
Imogen Sturni, branch secretary at the Australian Services Union (ASU), which reportedly lobbied for Qantas to update its rules, told the BBC: “Some of the dress code requirements were bordering on ridiculous, such as make-up style guides and a requirement for women to wear smaller watches than men.”
Yet while staff of all genders will be free to dress and apply makeup as they please, there will still be some restrictions. Regardless of gender, if hair is kept long it will have to be worn in a bun.
Those with tattoos, meanwhile, will still have to keep them covered up, while the airline will also mandate that some items of clothing must be worn together, such as tights or stockings with skirts.
The spokesman added: “Our uniform standards have always been reflective of the times. In the 80s, sideburns had to stop at mid ear, ‘gelled spikes’ were out and we recommended navy blue as the best eyeliner colour. In the 70s, women had to wear skirts above the knee.”
Despite the loosening of rules, the spokesman stressed the airline would maintain “the same high standards of grooming and attention to detail”.
It is the first major change to Qantas’ uniform policy since its current uniforms were introduced in 2013.
In September 2022, Virgin Atlantic said it would no longer require its employees to wear gendered uniform options.
Virgin Atlantic had already taken a markedly softer stance on tattoos, having previously allowed crew members to have visible tattoos.
In 2019, Air New Zealand said staff would be allowed to keep traditional Maori and other “non-offensive” tattoos visible.
The airline said at the time: “Allowing our employees to express their individuality and cultural heritage through tattoos is the latest step on our path to truly embracing diversity and creating a workplace where Air New Zealanders can be themselves and thrive.”
“We ask employees to treat tattoos like they treat speech – you can’t swear, make hateful comments or lewd jokes in the workplace, neither can your tattoos.”
Despite Virgin Atlantic relaxing its rules on gendered uniform options, it suspended this rule for staff aboard the flight that carried the England football team to Qatar for the World Cup last year.
The airline said at the time this was the result of a “risk assessment” considering Qatari laws and attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people. It said it would initially roll out the policy in countries such as the UK, US and Israel, which it said were “more accepting of non-binary identities”.
However, the airline said at the time it would still fly the team to Qatar with a logo featuring the rainbow flag which is used to symbolise LGBTQ pride.
Fifa was heavily criticised for its decision to allow the tournament to take place in the Gulf state, where homosexuality is illegal under Sharia Law.
