Korean Air, the national flag carrier of South Korea, which is widely considered to have some of the strictest uniform standards for flight attendants in the world, is reportedly considering easing its iron grip on grooming rules that are so exacting that some crew hopefuls undergo plastic surgery to make themselves look more appealing to the airline’s picky recruiters.
According to local media, the Seoul-based airline is currently carrying out a consultation that will allow crew members to wear comfortable sneakers at work, potentially joining a growing cadre of other carriers that have implemented similar uniform policies in recent years.
For context, this is an airline that used the term “stewardess” to describe flight attendants until 2022, when it relented to pressure to use gender-neutral language to describe its predominantly female cabin crew.
At present, female flight attendants at Korean Air have to wear high heels when strutting through airport concourses. The heel height has to be between 3 and 5 cm, and they can only be removed once the crew member is on board the plane, when flat shoes are mandatory.
Although it might come as a surprise that an airline like Korean Air is considering allowing its flight attendants to wear sneakers, it should be noted that there is a growing movement across Asia that has normalized this potential rule change.
Last November, Japan Airlines became the largest airline in the region to dramatically amend its grooming guidelines, allowing thousands of frontline staff to wear company-issued plain black sneakers for the first time.
What was interesting about the change at Japan Airlines is that the carrier allowed female staff to wear sneakers even if they wore a skirt or dress – a stark contrast to other international carriers that only allow sneakers when paired with trousers.
Japan Airlines relented to staff pressure to allow sneakers after concluding that it would improve service as it would make flight attendants more comfortable at work.
The groundwork for the introduction of sneakers for flight attendants in South Korea was laid by the low-cost carrier Aero K, which was founded in 2020. The carrier launched with a gender-neutral uniform, which featured sneakers as the default shoe options for cabin crew.
Other airlines that allow cabin crew to wear sneakers include the Spanish flag carrier Iberia, which was an early adopter of the trend… especially as a traditional full-service airline.
Iberia was quickly followed by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Finnair, and SAS Scandinavian Airlines in Europe.
