Ukrainian SkyUp Airlines becomes employee friendly by taking a small yet important step of revising the foot wear policy for the Flight attendants !
And this time , the cabin crews could not be more happy , when the low cost carrier removed the high heels from it's Flight attendants for trainers, a more comfortable means.
A BBC report says, SkyUp Airlines isn't the first airlines to do so, but definitely taking steps to revise it's traditional dress code to make it more comfortable for the flight attendants.
"Twelve hours on your feet, flying to Kyiv to Zanzibar and back. If you wear high heels, you are hardly able to walk afterwards," says flight attendant Daria Solomennaya, 27. "That includes four hours of security checks and cleaning."
Not less than a revolutionary effort , When SkyUp surveyed its crews , it turned out that its female employees were fed up with their high heels, tight blouses and pencil skirts , most of them complaining multiple health issues due to the age old dress code obligation.
"Many of my colleagues are permanent clients of podologists; their toes and toe-nails are constantly damaged by high heels," she complains. Varicose and spider veins are other frequent ailments.
SkyUp Airlines want below changes with the new uniforms that can be comfortable to the users :
BBC says, Several other carriers have already ditched elements of their dress codes that were previously considered standard in the industry, among them:
Now, Ukraine's low-cost airline took it one step further, that opts for , out go the high heels, skirts and tight blouses, in come trainers, loose orange jackets and trousers.
"A flight attendant's work is not that romantic. It's hard," explains SkyUp head of marketing Marianna Grygorash. "We realised that our female flight attendants didn't want to be seen as "sexualised and playful'."
"The typical image of a stewardess is probably more sexualised and associated with the femininity than any other," says gender expert Olena Strelnyk.
In Ukraine, the stereotype has long been of women more focused on their physical appearance than Western women till recently, when it has begun shedding many of its sexist traditions.
But this step of SkyUp isn't influencing the Ukrainian competitors like UIA , that will still continue it's old ways and dress codes after 30 years of flying and testing the market .
"Our flight attendants have enough time for breaks and their heels aren't that high at all: they're rather token," says the airline. UIA is determined to cling on to traditions in the airline industry and believes each company should decide its own future.
Cabin attendants are equally concerned about incidents and accidents involving greater physical roles of them, cases where aircraft does an emergency landing on water or one has to rush to walk on wings or supervising evacuation jobs, that can be a tough ask with the old dress code; and a pencil skirt or high heel definitely not an answer for those circumstances !
BBC went on reporting ,
But it isn't just during emergencies where the airline's old uniform feels inappropriate for what is a physically demanding job, involving irregular hours flying between different time and climate zones.
There is that moment at the start of a journey when all eyes are on the flight attendant, demonstrating what to do in an emergency.
"You put a life vest, a mask and a belt on the ground, as all the seats are occupied by passengers," Daria Solomennaya explains.
"You bow down carefully in your tight skirt to pick up one item after another. Suddenly it's as if you're on a stage and your blouse has leapt up above your skirt."
