Budget Ukraine airline SkyUp ditches skirts and high heels uniform for female flight attendants who can now wear loose-fitting trouser suits and TRAINERS
A budget European airline has ditched it's strict uniform policy for female flight attendants which required them to wear high heels and skirts.
SkyUp, based in the Ukraine, no longer requires female members of staff to wear pencil skirts and heels and instead employees can opt for comfortable trousers and trainers.
The low-cost airline have also replaced tight blouses and bright orange blazers with looser alternatives and staff seem to be delighted by the forthcoming change.
The airline, which is one of the youngest low-cost airlines in Europe, will bring in the uniform change late this month after a staff survey revealed that female employees weren't keen on their restrictive uniform.
A budget European airline has ditched it's strict uniform policy for female flight attendants which required them to wear high heels and skirts. Pictured, the staff in the new uniform
SkyUp, based in the Ukraine, no longer requires female members of staff to wear pencil skirts and heels and instead employees can opt for comfortable trousers and trainers (pictured)
The low-cost airline have also replaced tight blouses and bright orange blazers with looser alternatives (pictured) and staff seem to be delighted by the forthcoming change
Alexandrina Denysenko, a senior flight attendant with seven years of experience, said she sometimes does not get a spare minute to sit down during a flight and dreams of resting her swollen legs after spending hours wearing heels.
'Shoes on heels look beautiful, I do not argue with that, but feet suffer and swell by the end of the flight. Sneakers are absolutely cool,' Denysenko said.\
'God forbid, but if a crew has to do a landing in water and an evacuation, heels can damage the ladder and it won't be very comfortable to swim in a skirt,' she said.
The company said they researched the history of cabin crew uniforms and decided to ditch what they called 'conservative' elements of a flight attendant's look. Braids will now replace a tight-bun or pony-tail hairstyle.
'We found out that despite the fact that the image of a female flight attendant is very romanticized, their job demands a lot of physical training,' the head of the SkyUp Airlines marketing department, Marianna Grygorash, said.
The airline, which is one of the youngest low-cost airlines in Europe, will bring in the uniform change (pictured) late this month after a staff survey revealed that female employees weren't keen on their restrictive uniform
The company said they researched the history of cabin crew uniforms and decided to ditch what they called 'conservative' elements of a flight attendant's look. Braids (pictured) will now replace a tight-bun or pony-tail hairstyle
The new orange uniform (pictured) will be officially launched by the company on October 22
The new uniform will be officially launched on October 22.
Grygorash said the company also plans to launch a new uniform for male crew. A light suit instead of a vest, and a T-shirt instead of a shirt will be combined with black trainers.
'If the whole world and all fashionistas wear sneakers, why not to bring it to aviation?' flight attendant Zoryana said.
The change comes amid changing attitudes to female airline staff, with a slew of airlines ditching restrictive elements of their uniform in recent years.
In 2019 Virgin Atlantic announced that its female cabin crew would no longer have to wear makeup in order to allow cabin crew 'more choice on how to express themselves at work'.
The company also plans to launch a new uniform for male crew. A light suit instead of a vest, and a T-shirt instead of a shirt will be combined with black trainers. Pictured, the staff in the new uniforms
The change of uniform (pictured) comes amid changing attitudes to female airline staff, with a slew of airlines ditching restrictive elements of their uniform in recent years
Flight attendants of SkyUp Airlines pose for a picture onboard a plane during the presentation of a new uniform at the Boryspil International Airport outside Kyiv, Ukraine
Crew are still permitted to wear makeup if they wish but are told they should do so 'using the airline's suggested colour palette'.
As part of new changes, female cabin crew, known for wearing an iconic red uniform, were provided with a pair of trousers in addition to the standard shirt and skirt.
Prior to this female crew would have to specially request trousers if they wished to wear them.
In the same year, Norwegian Air dropped their high heel and makeup requirement for female flight attendants and allowed male members of staff to wear 'light make-up'.
It came after they were criticised when it emerged its female flight attendants were forced to wear high heels, with the only exception being if they have a doctor's note - which they would have to bring in daily.
