The vast majority of Britons believe flight attendants should no longer be made to wear high heels as part of their work uniform according to a new survey by pollsters YouGov.
Nearly 4,000 British adults were polled on March 15 and 80 per cent of those questioned said flight attendants should either definitely not be made to wear high heels or probably shouldn’t be made to wear high heels.
Londoners, however, were more likely to expect flight attendants to wear high heels than Britons in any other region while 1 in 10 men said female flight attendants should either definitely or probably wear high heels.
Labour voters were more likely to believe that female flight attendants definitely shouldn’t have to wear high heels. Surprisingly, older adults aged between 50 and 64 years old were more likely to believe that high heel rules should be consigned to the history books.
Most UK-based airlines no longer have compulsory high heel rules as such a policy could fall foul of equality laws but there is still a general expectation that female flight attendants wear high heels.
Flight attendants who choose to wear high heels are normally required to change into flat loafers inflight because of the risk of injury should turbulence strike.
In early 2020, Japan Airlines ditched high heel requirements for female flight attendants after a social media campaign against the rules. The low-cost airline Norwegian was also forced to abandon its sexist high heels rules after lawmakers called out the carrier on the issue in 2019.
Last month, a union representing Qantas cabin crew asked the Australian cabin crew to rethink its high heel policy for female flight attendants, along with requesting changes to makeup and grooming rules.
British Airways is said to rewriting its own grooming guidelines with the possibility that the policy will be made gender-neutral so that male flight attendants can wear makeup or nail varnish and have long hair if they choose.
