This Airline Won't Fire Pregnant Flight Attendants Anymore

In a statement on Monday, Singapore Air said pregnant cabin crew "may choose to work in a temporary ground attachment" and can resume flying duties after maternity leave.

Singapore Airlines Ltd. said the carrier's crew could remain employees, reflecting a long-standing and much-criticized rule of leaving the airline.

In a statement in response to an article in the Straits Times on Monday,

Singapore Airlines said the crew of the carrier flight "may choose to work on a temporary ground attachment" and could resume flying duties after maternity leave.

Before the new rules, which went into effect on July 15,

The newspaper said the flight attendants who disclosed their pregnancy were put on unpaid leave and forced to leave the airline the next day to present their child's birth certificate.

There was no ground work available for the pregnant crew, and in order to fly again, they had to re-apply for a new job under a program that did not guarantee re-runs.

employment, according to the report.

Singapore Airlines has maintained its policy in the face of more than a decade of criticism. Since 2010, gender equality groups have been criticizing the rules as discriminatory and unfair.

With the airline industry facing a post-pandemic labor shortage, the carrier is finally softening its approach.

in her statement

Singapore Airlines said that under its previous policy, "the cabin crew left service when they were pregnant". The airline said ground positions for the carrier's crew lasted at least three months and nine months.

"We continue to work hard to retain our talent," she added.

still,

The terms associated with the placements are not clear.

The Straits Times - citing a circular from Singapore Airlines - reported that the crew of the pregnant aircraft would remain on unpaid leave. They will be allowed to apply for a job on the ground and the airline will offer as many of these jobs as possible to keep their paycheck,

The newspaper reported.

The newspaper quoted Executive Director of the Women's Association for Action and Research, Corinna Lim, as saying that there are still gray areas that Singapore Airlines has not addressed. Are there other rules, express or implied, that prohibit postpartum mothers from traveling to SIA,

Like a fitness requirement? "Losing a baby's weight takes time, usually six to 12 months," Lim said.

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