Ditch the skirts: Female British Airways cabin crew win the right to wear trousers at work

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This was published 8 years ago

Ditch the skirts: Female British Airways cabin crew win the right to wear trousers at work

Updated
British Airways ambassador, Orlando Bloom poses with British Airways cabin crew in Sydney.

British Airways ambassador, Orlando Bloom poses with British Airways cabin crew in Sydney.Credit: Getty Images

Who wears the trousers at British Airways? Finally, everyone can.

Female cabin crew have won the right to swap out their skirts following a tense two-year battle between the airline and workers' union, Unite.

All workers are now allowed to cover their legs following the end of the former dress code, which dictated that certain female employees must wear skirts unless exempt on religious or medical grounds.

The antiquated rule only applied to staff employed since 2012 in what the airline calls its "mixed fleet", which accounts for 3000 of BA's 17,000 cabin crew.

"Our mixed fleet team wear the 'ambassador' British Airways uniform. While trousers are not a standard part of this uniform, colleagues wishing to wear them can request this through their manager," a British Airways spokesperson told The Guardian.

Trousers for women were included in the cabin crew uniform designed by Julien McDonald in 2001, however it was "not within the mixed fleet vision for female crew to wear trousers", BA said.

However the airline decided to back down after a Unite poll found 83 per cent of its members supported the option to wear trousers.

"It was ridiculous that 46 years after the 'Made in Dagenham' women won the right to equal pay that companies like British Airways were still employing old fashioned views and treating women differently," Unite's regional officer Matt Smith said in a statement.

"British Airways' stance was unbefitting of a modern airline in the modern age.

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"Not only is the choice to wear trousers a victory for equality it is also a victory for common sense.

"Female cabin crew no longer have to shiver in the cold, wet and snow of wintry climates, but also can be afforded the protection of trousers at destinations where there is a risk of malaria or the Zika virus."

Stuff.co.nz

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