This was published 2 years ago
Trans flight attendants: It's time more airlines recognised trans crew members
By Lee Tulloch
Qantas staff ahead of last year's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in Sydney.Credit: Lisa Maree Williams
When "Qantana" and her entourage of flight attendants sashayed onto the Sydney Cricket Ground during the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade in March, she wore a sparkling, sequined version of the familiar Qantas uniform that is designed by Paris-based Australian Martin Grant.
The male flight attendants wore silver hotpants.
I wished for a fleeting moment that all Qantas flight crews were similarly attired. It would certainly make long-haul flights less boring. But the attendants themselves wouldn't thank me.
In the '60s flight attendants were groovy Jet Set dollies.Credit: Getty Images
I have it on good authority this is not happening anytime soon.
But it wouldn't be the first time in history cabin crew have worn clothes more suitable for the disco than the flight deck. In 1965, American airline Braniff hired Italian designer Emilio Pucci to create futuristic uniforms for its flight attendants, which reflected a funky young image.
The uniform included miniskirts in trippy colours, orange-striped bright green calfskin boots and a dome-shaped helmet, which was taken off in the cabin. The female attendants also did an "Air Strip" mid-flight, peeling off their outer uniforms to reveal the sexy mini.
I can't imagine that happening today, thankfully. But it makes the idea of sequined Qantas uniforms sound less outrageous.
The original flight attendants of the 1930s were nurses and were attired in crisp white uniforms, capes and flat brogues. During WWII, uniforms became more military to reflect authority. Through the domesticity of the 1950s, female flight attendants played the perfect housewife, fluffing pillows, pouring martinis and soothing babies. In the '60s they were groovy Jet Set dollies and in the '70s, sexy cocktail waitresses, "with geisha-like instructions," as Gloria Steinem put it. In the 1980s uniforms returned to the corporate skirt or pantsuit, and this hasn't changed much since.
Males account for only about 15 per cent of flight attendants worldwide, so we tend to think of the women's outfits when we talk about cabin crew uniforms. But what about those who don't align themselves with traditional gender norms?
Trans people are not yet well-represented in airline hiring policies, despite most Western airlines having stated anti-discriminatory policies.
In 2012 Thai private airline PC Air made headlines when it hired four kathoey, or "ladyboys", as cabin crew for its international flights. Skip a few years and Kayleigh Scott became United Airline's first trans woman flight attendant in 2019. Cebu Pacific Air from the Philippines hired two transgender flight attendants the same year. It's possible that trans people are working quietly on other airlines without any fanfare.
You won't find them, though, in the cabins of airlines based in the Middle East and some in Asia. Countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar and the United Arab Emirates specifically ban transgender identity.
Those airlines that do accept transgender cabin crew have in place protections when they fly into countries where they may be discriminated against and where their passport shows a different gender to how they present.
As for uniforms, trans women and trans men don't really have an issue as they wear the uniform of the gender they have chosen. But there is a growing number of gender nonbinary people who don't want the choices to be limited to either male or female and are uncomfortable with both.
Last year, nonbinary Alaskan Airlines attendant Justin Wetherell filed a human rights complaint against their employer, arguing that it was discriminatory for the airline to demand all flight attendants conform to either a "female" or "male" category. The American Civil Liberties Union backed their claim.
Just last week, the airline announced it had updated its guidelines "to provide more freedom and flexibility in individual and gender expression." This involves more gender-neutral garment choices. Nail polish, makeup, two earrings per ear, a single stud nose piercing and tattoos are now permitted as "expression options" available to all employees.
Icelandic airline PLAY also dresses attendants in a gender non-specific uniform of pants, T-shirts, Nike sneakers and puffer jackets, not so different from their "civilian" clothes.
This seems like progress. After all, some airlines still have a strict culture about female flight attendants' weight, randomly weighing them and forcing them on diets. Only two years ago Virgin Atlantic's female flight attendants won a battle not to have to wear makeup to work. Currently flight attendants are petitioning Iberia to drop "sexist" uniform requirements including high heels.
I suspect Qantana and her crew might want a conversation about keeping the heels, though.
lee.tulloch@traveller.com.au
Twitter @missleetulloch
See also: Push to get Qantas to ditch 'gender-based uniform requirements'
Sign up for the Traveller newsletter
The latest travel news, tips and inspiration delivered to your inbox. Sign up now.