Glass ceiling in the sky: Qatar Airways’ problem with pregnant cabin crew (Theguardian.com)

They’re firefighters, lifesavers and great hosts – but woe betide the Qatar Airways flight attendant who gets pregnant. As the airline comes under fire, Gwyn Topham reports on a profession that still has a foot in the 1950s Round the back of one Gulf airline’s corporate HQ, a door opens into a hall dominated by […]


June 20, 2015

Prosecute Qatar Airways over pregnancy sackings, TWU demands (TWU.com.au)

The Transport Workers’ Union is demanding that the Government prosecute Qatar Airways for discriminating against women workers, including allowing for them to be sacked if they become pregnant. The airline should be banned from entering Australia unless it abides by anti-discrimination laws, the union added. The call comes after the International Labour Organisation found the […]


June 19, 2015

ILO finds Qatar guilty

Geneva-based United Nations agency the ILO (International Labour Organization) today found Qatar guilty of allowing its state-owned airline, Qatar Airways, to violate international and national agreements and institutionalise discrimination. The case was successfully brought against Qatar by the ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) and the ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation) (see http://goo.gl/Ka5inH.) In a dramatic […]


June 16, 2015

Qatar Airways plans to become FIFA sponsor despite scandal (ArabianBusiness.com)

 Qatar Airways plans to become a World Cup sponsor for FIFA even though it is concerned about the bribery investigation into world soccer’s governing body, the airline said on Tuesday. “With the World Cup coming to Qatar, we have had advanced internal discussions regarding this, but we are not in advanced discussions with FIFA,” said […]


June 3, 2015

Fritt Fall – airlines in free fall

Fritt fall – på jobb i lufta til lavpris, by Pål Vegard Hagesæther, reviewed by Asbjørn Wahl, adviser to the Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees, and chair of the ITF urban transport committee In the book Fritt fall – på jobb i lufta til lavpris (Free fall – at work in the air […]


May 12, 2015

Al Baker challenged to prove ‘bullshit’ claim

The ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) has once again thrown down the gauntlet to Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker, and challenged him to prove that the airline is reforming its practices. The ITF has repeatedly exposed Qatar Airways’ outdated and autocratic working conditions. Along with the ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation) it has also […]


February 23, 2015

Forced to stay single and facing the sack if they get pregnant, the staggeringly sexist rules for female cabin crew on Gulf airlines (dailymail.co.uk)

Cabin staff working for two major Gulf airlines face losing their jobs for falling pregnant and are even required to get permission before they marry, outraged campaigners claim. According to the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) carriers based in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are guilty of ‘flagrant abuses of aviation workers’ labour rights’. […]


February 16, 2015

One of the world’s largest airlines makes its flight attendants ask permission before getting married (washingtonpost.com)

Over the last 20 years, Qatar Airways has undergone a remarkable transformation. Backed by tiny Qatar’s government riches, the airline has added routes to every populated continent, soaring from the 90th-largest international carrier to the 10th. Its prices on flights to D.C., New York, Miami and Dallas are cheap enough to pose a major challenge […]