Qantas, Australia’s largest airline, has altered its gender-based uniform policies, allowing male staff to wear makeup and have long hair.
Because of its new style guide, female employees will no longer be required to wear makeup and heels while on the job.
Last year, an Australian trade union called on Qantas to modernize its “uniform policy.”
It comes after competing airlines relaxed their policies, with Virgin Atlantic switching to gender-neutral uniforms.
In addition to being able to wear flat shoes, both men and women will be permitted to wear the same types of jewelry, including huge watches.
The new guidelines now allow all staff, including pilots and flight attendants, to wear their hair in a ponytail or bun.
“Fashion evolves, and so do our style guidelines,” Qantas stated in a statement on Friday.
“We’re proud of our diversity, as well as bringing our guidelines up to date,” the company noted.
Employees of Qantas’ low-cost airline Jetstar are also subject to the new restrictions.
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The Australian Services Union (ASU), which had fought for Qantas to amend its uniform policy, Imogen Sturni, said the move was a “big win for workers.”
“Some of the dress code requirements were bordering on ridiculous, such as makeup style guides and a requirement for women to wear smaller watches than men,” Ms Sturni told BBC.
However, under the new regulation, Qantas employees will still be required to cover up their tattoos. The guidelines also stipulate which uniform elements can be worn simultaneously, such as required tights or stockings with skirts.
Qantas’ announcement came after other airlines eased their uniform standards.
Virgin Atlantic, based in the United Kingdom, announced in September that it will take a “fluid approach” to uniforms, allowing employees to wear anything they wanted to work “regardless of gender.”
However, the airline then stated that the restriction did not apply to crew on the England football team’s travel to the World Cup in Qatar, which had previously been chastised for its treatment of LGBT people.
Virgin noted at the time that it had implemented the policy in the UK, US, and Israel, which were “more accepting of non-binary identities, allowing more self-expression.”
Air New Zealand lifted its restriction on visible tattoos in 2019 to allow “employees to express their individuality and cultural heritage.”
Some Maori New Zealanders have tattoos to commemorate their ancestors and heritage.
