Breastfeeding pilots at Frontier Airlines have won the legal right to pump milk while in the cockpit after settling a years-long lactation lawsuit with the Denver-based budget carrier.
Frontier settled the lawsuit without admitting any liability more than a year after reaching a similar settlement with flight attendants that allowed them to wear breast pumps while on duty for the first time.
Pilots have been pursuing Frontier for five years to win the right to pump milk in the cockpit, as well as a slew of other pregnancy and lactation accommodations, in what activists had described as a ‘critical step’ in improving gender equality in the airline industry.
On Tuesday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said it had reached a settlement with Frontier over the dispute which had been filed by the ACLU of Colorado on behalf of the airline’s pilots.
Mary Jo O’Neill, regional attorney of the EEOC’s Phoenix District Office, said the settlement could become a blueprint for the industry and urged other airlines to “look for creative ways to accommodate pregnant and lactating workers”.
Along with finally being allowed to pump milk in the cockpit during ‘noncritical’ phases of flight such as during the cruise, Frontier has also implemented a number of other ‘positive’ changes to how it treats pregnant and breastfeeding pilots.
These include allowing pregnant pilots to continue to fly if they have a medical certificate, offering ground placements for pregnant pilots who are temporarily unable to fly, and allowing breastfeeding pilots to drop to just 50 hours of flight time per month.
Frontier will also create a list of airport lactation facilities that will be updated every six months.
“Many companies purport to be family-friendly but fail to provide any support to employees who are pregnant or lactating,” commented Aditi Fruitwala, staff attorney for the ACLU’s Center for Liberty.
“We’re so proud we could come to an agreement that will benefit pregnant and lactating workers now and into the future.”
“This settlement should serve as a strong message to employers – especially airline employers – that reasonable accommodations such as those agreed to by Frontier Airlines are good for workers, good for families, good for business, and required by the law. We’re hopeful this will inspire more change and stronger protections for workers across the airline industry,” Fruitwala continued.
Frontier had previously forced flight attendants to take unpaid time off work to pump milk but “advances in wearable lactation technology” prompted a change of policy and crew members are now allowed to wear pumping devices while working.
