Asiana Airlines Female Cabin Crew Fight For The Right to Wear Pants

Asiana Airlines female cabin crew wants the right to wear pants. South Korea's human rights commission has recommended that the airline allow its female crew to wear trousers and the commission's ruling that was made on Monday is not binding but represents a victory for the female staff of 3,400 reported the AP.

The female staff have been asking for the company to relax the strict dress code requirements that contain everything from the length of their earrings to how many pins they can wear in their hair.

Asiana said according to the AP that its no pants policy emphasizes the company's brand of "high-class Korean beauty." The airline said they would now consider pants as an option in future uniforms.

It is the only South Korean airline that doesn't allow women to wear pants.

CNN reported that some of the rules for women include:

• "No pants. Only skirts.
• No glasses when wearing a uniform.
• No more than two bobby pins.
• Manicured nails at all times."

"There are many cases when we have to stand up and sit down in front of our passengers which makes it not only uncomfortable, but sometimes dangerous," An Asiana flight attendant who did not disclose her name said to CNN.

"I hate wearing manicures all the time. They make my nails weaker and they break," added another flight attendant to CNN.

Kweon Soo-jeong is the head of the union and a flight attendant. She said it wasn't just about the comfort of wearing pants but also about the safety of passengers and attendants and their right to choose.

"We understand that we have a certain image to pursue, but we believe that the most important function of our uniform is to assist our passengers," Kweon said to CNN. "We are not arguing to get rid of skirts altogether, but to give us the chance to choose and update outdated regulations."

CNN reported that Asiana said the uniforms were designed based on traditional Korean dress.

"The uniform was designed based on hanbok, Korean traditional dress -- women didn't wear pants traditionally when they wore hanbok," Min Man-ki of Asiana Airlines said to CNN. "The regulations are simply guidelines that should be followed when wearing our uniform. The flight attendants won't be punished or [debarred] from promotion if they don't. I mean, (we) cannot expect flight attendants to wear track suits and sneakers just for safety."