Sexual Harassment And Too Tight, Cathay Pacific’s Uniform Was More Like A Corset In The Air For Women Flight Attendants, So They Fought Back And Won

by Heather Cassell

After years of working in too short skirts, too revealing blouses, and uniforms tight enough to be a corset that made it difficult to work in and opened Cathay Pacific Airlines female flight attendants to sexual harassment, flight attendants and their unions won their case.

The Hong Kong-based airline announced it was doing away with a more than 70-year-old uniform requirement that forced female flight attendants to wear skirts and joining the 21st century March 30.

The new rule covers not only Cathay Pacific Airlines but also the airline’s regional subsidiary Cathay Dragon Airlines.

“It is imperative that our customer-facing colleagues not only feel pride in wearing the Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon colors but that they also feel comfortable and empowered to carry out their duties to the best of their abilities,” the airline’s executives said in a statement March 30.

“Now is the time to make this happen by working together to review the uniforms that accurately reflect the values we represent,” an unidentified representative of the airline founded in 1946 told the Business Insider.

The airline’s leadership pledged in the statement they would work with the flight attendants and the unions to create uniforms that “accurately reflect our company’s progressive nature and the value our brand represents.”

The airline’s 7,000 female flight attendants have fought for the uniform change since 2014, reported the Independent. During the past four years their voices grew louder in protest.

The most recent redesign of the uniform was created by Hong Kong designer Eddie Lau in 2011. The uniform consists of white logo blouses, red pencil skirts with two slits, sheer black stockings, and black high heels with an optional matching red jacket.

The airline’s female flight attendants expressed their concern about the short uniforms when they had to reach for or lift luggage into the overhead bins or take public transportation while wearing the uniform, reported the Independent.

The abolishment of the uniform means a new design with options for uniforms is coming and for the first-time ever slacks will be included. An estimated 2,500 of the airline’s female flight attendants have indicated they were in favor of wearing pants, reported the South China Morning Post.

However, it could take up to three years before the flight attendants will have their new uniforms.

In the interim, the unions are pushing to institute pants into the current uniform.

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