Qantas Flight Attendant Wore Palestinian Flag Pin on Their Uniform

[kangarooflyer88]

Just thought I’d provide yet another exhibit of why this policy is merely a suggestion and not a rule. Namely passengers are allowed to take photos on planes when employees violate company policies which was the case for this Melbourne to Hobart flight where the flight attendant wore political messaging on her uniform:

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/fury-after-qantas-cabin-crew-wear-palestinian-flag-pin-on-domestic-flight/news-story/c947a5635b3c465970d9d474ab4e2799?amp

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Just thought I’d provide yet another exhibit of why this policy is merely a suggestion and not a rule. Namely passengers are allowed to take photos on planes when employees violate company policies which was the case for this Melbourne to Hobart flight where the flight attendant wore political messaging on her uniform:

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/fury-after-qantas-cabin-crew-wear-palestinian-flag-pin-on-domestic-flight/news-story/c947a5635b3c465970d9d474ab4e2799?amp

Note sure I can read that into it at all!

I think the passenger publishing the photo is in the wrong, not least because (a) they could have raised the issue directly with Qantas instead of posting on social media and (b) they could have blurred the identity of the staff member.

(a) would have achieved far better results for their cause… prevented it happening again and not given it prominent news coverage.

 

[Pushka]

Note sure I can read that into it at all!

I think the passenger publishing the photo is in the wrong, not least because (a) they could have raised the issue directly with Qantas instead of posting on social media and (b) they could have blurred the identity of the staff member.

(a) would have achieved far better results for their cause… prevented it happening again and not given it prominent news coverage.

Maybe they did raise it directly and never got a response.

 

[justinbrett]

Note sure I can read that into it at all!

I think the passenger publishing the photo is in the wrong, not least because (a) they could have raised the issue directly with Qantas instead of posting on social media and (b) they could have blurred the identity of the staff member.

(a) would have achieved far better results for their cause… prevented it happening again and not given it prominent news coverage.

With respect that's a very naive view.

Countless threads on here of people trying to contact Qantas for urgent issues unsucessfully. This will likely go to an overseas inbox and a generic response will be sent.

Everybody knows you need to go public to get any response out of a big corporation. It used to be @'ing them on Twitter would name and shame them into action, but now even that doesn't work these days. Whether it's right or wrong, an article on news au will get a response within 24 hours.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

With respect that's a very naive view.

Countless threads on here of people trying to contact Qantas for urgent issues unsucessfully. This will likely go to an overseas inbox and a generic response will be sent.

Everybody knows you need to go public to get any response out of a big corporation. It used to be @'ing them on Twitter would name and shame them into action, but now even that doesn't work these days. Whether it's right or wrong, an article on news au will get a response within 24 hours.

Tactically it elicited a response. But I fear it fails at a strategic level, which is to prevent harmful outcomes in the community generally. The media coverage will fan the flames on both sides

 

[DejaBrew]

From that article…

Staff are not allowed to wear badges or pins with their uniform; however, they may wear a country’s flag on their uniform if they are able to speak that country’s national language.

Didn’t read anything in that article saying that the FA was unable to speak that country’s national language… Wonder if the furious community leader bothered to ask?

 

[justinbrett]

The FA in question has gone public indicating she will “fight against“ the pax who made the complaint should her career be jeopardised. The pax has identified himself and done media interviews.

From that article…


Didn’t read anything in that article saying that the FA was unable to speak that country’s national language…

There are official uniform symbols that are attached to the name tag, they can’t just wear any old pin.

I’m not sure which flag is used for Arabic (guessing UAE given EK relationship ) but for Spanish it’s the flag of Spain regardless of whether they come from Spain or Latin America. A FA can’t just wear a Nicaraguan flag because they speak Spanish.

 

[DejaBrew]

There are official uniform symbols that are attached to the name tag, they can’t just wear any old pin.

I’m not sure which flag is used for Arabic (guessing UAE given EK relationship ) but for Spanish it’s the flag of Spain regardless of whether they come from Spain or Latin America. A FA can’t just wear a Nicaraguan flag because they speak Spanish.

I was being somewhat tongue-in-cheek but appreciate it may not have been obvious. It will be interesting to see how Qantas plays this? After all, AJ used the entire company for plenty of political activism, especially in recent years. That aside, pax certainly appears to be in breach of the conditions of carriage.

 

[Seat0B]

Prepares popcorn to see how this plays out. Two wrongs don’t make a right? Or pax wrong is worse than staff wrong? Or some other combination?

 

[mrsterryn]

Prepares popcorn to see how this plays out. Two wrongs don’t make a right? Or pax wrong is worse than staff wrong? Or some other combination?

Definitely popcorn week

 

[DejaBrew]

Prepares popcorn to see how this plays out. Two wrongs don’t make a right? Or pax wrong is worse than staff wrong? Or some other combination?

I would normally suggest that commonsense should prevail (e.g. quiet chat with FA, general communique to staff reiterating company uniform policy, acknowledgement of pax concerns whilst reminding generally about conditions of carriage, “nothing to see here / storm in a teacup” etc etc), however we all know how commonsense tends to work in practice…

 

[Ade]

I’m not sure which flag is used for Arabic (guessing UAE given EK relationship ) but for Spanish it’s the flag of Spain regardless of whether they come from Spain or Latin America. A FA can’t just wear a Nicaraguan flag because they speak Spanish.

A staff member I know wears both the Indian and Sri Lankan flag - they are a native of Sri Lanka, but of Tamil origin. When I first saw that I asked if they could speak both Tamil & Sinhalese? they responded, I can't speak Sinhalese, but I can speak Tamil. Sri Lankan pin is because I'm originally from Sri Lanka, but the Indian pin is because I can speak Tamil. We had a good time chatting (as I can speak Tamil too)

 

[odysseus]

The funny thing is how predictable what would be worn before seeing it having only read the headline.

 

[CaptJCool]

company policy is one thing

rushing to assumptions quite another

https://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/qantas-responds/qantas-statement-on-wearing-of-palestinian-flag-badge/

however the company itself can pursue so called social and political issues, but thats the preserve of the Board and official sponsorships

 

[Ade]

I would normally suggest that commonsense should prevail (e.g. quiet chat with FA, general communique to staff reiterating company uniform policy, acknowledgement of pax concerns whilst reminding generally about conditions of carriage, “nothing to see here / storm in a teacup” etc etc), however we all know how commonsense tends to work in practice…

Agree. When I read the news article, the first thought that I popped to my mind is - the concerned pax could have spoken to the CSM on the flight and asked if there is a specific reason as to why a certain FA was wearing a certain nation's flag on their lapel OR ask the FA itself, without being agro or judgy, ask with a genuine interest to see if there is any reasoning/motive behind their gesture etc ...

A bit OT - I get the feeling that some people are a bit touchy these days? Granted different things affect different persons differently ... I mean, there could be something so naive/funny/casual might offend me, but it helps to talk about these things with the person(s) involved or their one-ups, if the person(s) are unapproachable ... I could be wrong and happy to be corrected, but reporting everything to media and making a *news* of it isn't really being neighbourly (?, is the right word, can't find a word to express what I'm trying to say)

 

[justinbrett]

Prepares popcorn to see how this plays out. Two wrongs don’t make a right? Or pax wrong is worse than staff wrong? Or some other combination?

I would assume staff wrong is worse than a pax wrong.

Given the media attention already, QF would be very unwise to take action against the pax. Especially because that act only occurred because of the staff act.

I would normally suggest that commonsense should prevail (e.g. quiet chat with FA, general communique to staff reiterating company uniform policy, acknowledgement of pax concerns

By all accounts that is exactly what happened.

 

[justinbrett]

Agree. When I read the news article, the first thought that I popped to my mind is - the concerned pax could have spoken to the CSM on the flight and asked if there is a specific reason as to why a certain FA was wearing a certain nation's flag on their lapel OR ask the FA itself, without being agro or judgy, ask with a genuine interest to see if there is any reasoning/motive behind their gesture etc ...

A bit OT - I get the feeling that some people are a bit touchy these days? Granted different things affect different persons differently ... I mean, there could be something so naive/funny/casual might offend me, but it helps to talk about these things with the person(s) involved or their one-ups, if the person(s) are unapproachable ... I could be wrong and happy to be corrected, but reporting everything to media and making a *news* of it isn't really being neighbourly (?, is the right word, can't find a word to express what I'm trying to say)

I have since seen reports that the entire crew were wearing the pins (which would include the CSM) not just the FA photographed. I believe this came from subsequent media interviews with the pax in question, not the original report.

That said it’s not been verified and the QF response doesn’t indicate this.

A bit OT - I get the feeling that some people are a bit touchy these days?

The pax in question is Jewish.
Edit - apparently he’s not.

 

[DejaBrew]

A bit OT - I get the feeling that some people are a bit touchy these days? Granted different things affect different persons differently ... I mean, there could be something so naive/funny/casual might offend me, but it helps to talk about these things with the person(s) involved or their one-ups, if the person(s) are unapproachable ... I could be wrong and happy to be corrected, but reporting everything to media and making a *news* of it isn't really being neighbourly (?, is the right word, can't find a word to express what I'm trying to say)

I think “moral indignation” has sadly become the national sport these days

https://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/qantas-responds/qantas-statement-on-wearing-of-palestinian-flag-badge/

Appropriate response IMHO.

however the company itself can pursue so called social and political issues, but thats the preserve of the Board and official sponsorships

Don’t disagree with you on this, but we‘re kidding ourselves if we believe that AJ never conflated his personal political/social ideals and opinions with those of the company. Not suggesting AJ/Qantas is alone in this, but certainly a well-known example.

 

[Ade]

The pax in question is Jewish.

Yea, I saw that in the news article and I understand that the pax was offended, given what's been happening with Israel & Palestine ... but my thought process is, yes, they are offended and they called it out .. but does it have to be called out in the or via news? Could there have been a different way this issue could have been handled ... again, there is no right or wrong answers and chances are I'm very off in my comment, but everyone does things that might offend/anger/irritate the next person ... but taking everything to a news outlet, is that the best way?

Ack that this is OT, so happy for this comment to be handled as appropriate.

 

[p--and--t]

Stolen from @dajop