Australia: Qantas Airlines Abandons Gender Uniforms

Australian airline Qantas announced on Friday it would scrap its gender uniforms, allowing male cabin crew to wear make-up and female crew to ditch high heels.

Qantas says it has revised its rules to make uniforms more comfortable for staff from “diverse cultural backgrounds” to better reflect modern expectations.

The company has been criticized in the past for its strict dress code, which includes banning mustaches, restricting the length of sideburns and specifying the best eyeliner shades.

The new guidelines follow demands from unions, which have urged Qantas to remove the requirement for female staff to wear make-up.

“Fashions evolve, and so have our style guidelines over the years,” the airline said in a statement. “Our consistent standards always reflect the times.”

Qantas clarified that the new ‘conduct and hygiene guidelines’ will replace the old ‘male’ and ‘female’ uniform categories.

Now, cabin crew can wear makeup or not, choose flat shoes and wear long hair in a ponytail or bun.