British Airways has claimed female cabin crew have always been able to wear trousers as the union claims victory following a ‘two year battle’.
Unite said that the airline’s ‘Mixed Fleet’ – a category of crew created in 2010 and hired on different terms to existing staff – were told it ‘wasn’t in the Mixed Fleet vision for female crew to wear trousers’.
This applied to 3,000 of the airline’s 17,000 cabin crew staff.
Unite said 83% of its members said they wanted the right to wear trousers and that following a two year battle, BA has backed down.
However the airline claims that although it wasn’t part of the uniform, cabin crew have been able to request it through their manager – with less than 1% asking for it.
A BA spokesman said: "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."
Unite’s regional officer Matt Smith said in a statement: "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. British Airways’ stance was unbefitting of a modern airline in the modern age.
"This has been a long running campaign against British Airways management’s continual refusal to allow female cabin crew on its Mixed Fleet the option of wearing trousers."
Crew in BA’s Worldwide and Euro fleets have been able to wear trousers since 2003, after a uniform overhaul by designer Julien Macdonald.
