The Disunited Uninclusive Airline Industry

A personal story

The airline industry has come a long way from the old days of flying when both airline staff and passengers respected one another. In fact, when people flew at one time, the men wore jackets and ties. Today, few wear that kind of apparel, even in business class. In some airlines, even the cabin crew looks shoddy.

I have been a United Airlines Mileage Plus flyer for many years. My experience flying with them this past April makes me loathe to continue.

We arrived in Denver waiting to board a flight to Los Angeles on our way to Fiji. While waiting in the boarding lounge, the flight attendants arrived. One of the members, who I found out was the chief flight attendant, had wrapped a keffiyeh around his shoulders. The keffiyeh is a symbol of the Palestinian cause first popularized by Yasser Arafat, himself a terrorist implicated in instigating many suicide bombings. So, this employee was interjecting a very contentious issue into his work environment––the Israeli-Gaza conflict.

It's crucial that airline employees, as representatives of the airline, adhere to uniform standards. Just as I wouldn't expect an employee to wrap themselves in an Israeli flag, I was surprised to see the chief flight attendant wearing a keffiyeh, a symbol of a highly contentious issue, the Israeli-Gaza conflict.

While waiting in the boarding lounge, another employee appeared. This person, I'll call him a man, was dressed wearing a headband over a balding hairline but had on a skirt and black leotards. His hair looked like it had been a week since it had been washed. If this was United's attempt to be woke with diversity and inclusion, it didn't go well. The person perhaps thought he could pass himself as a transexual, but beyond the dress, there was little to convince anyone he was a woman. If I had called him 'sir', I would probably have been banished from the airline forever.

This happened to a mother who was banished from a flight because she called a flight attendant by the wrong gender; once again, United Airlines.

Unfortunately, it's not just United Airlines that is engaging in divisive and provocative actions. Qantas Airlines got in on the act with one of its airline staff in January of this year.

'Political activism while passengers are captive in the air': Australian Jewish leader slams Qantas cabin crew for expressing 'divisive' pro-Palestinian views on flight

Some people on the flight expressed their disgust at this behaviour. Still, Qantas, an airline that has been less than exemplary in recent years, failed to act against the flight attendant.

Condone bad behaviour encourages more bad behaviour. So, what is someone's beef next? Do Armenian flight attendants wear anti-Turkish badges, or does a Ukrainian flight attendant on an American airline wear an anti-Russian badge?

Such displays of inappropriate behaviour only sow the seeds of more conflict and disunity among people.

It was interesting that after that flight, in Los Angeles, we saw a flight crew from Emirates Airlines, who were immaculately dressed.

The same kind of in-your-face activism goes beyond the airline industry. Over the years, I attended a few concerts where the performers expressed unsolicited political opinions. Sorry, I didn't go there to hear politics; I went to see a musical performance. A few days ago, my son told me that Herbie Hancock, the pianist, is coming to Australia. I told my son I won't be going. The last time he was here, he trashed the American President. 

We need to vote with our feet and not support businesses, including those airlines that promote political activism in the workplace.