Singapore Airlines’ pregnancy pivot should set an example to others

In the Hollywood hit Crazy Rich Asians, the main character flies into Singapore’s Changi airport and delights in the fact that it has a butterfly garden and a movie theatre. JFK airport in New York City is “just salmonella and despair”, she remarks. Changi, which opened in 1981, topped the annual Skytrax World Airport Awards for eight consecutive years before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. And if it sets a standard for airports, then national flag carrier Singapore Airlines is the airborne embodiment of that modern and cosmopolitan image. This is why the enduring focus on the “Singapore Girl” — a term for female cabin crew coined in a marketing campaign 50 years ago — has been increasingly called into question by critics as outdated. Stories abound about the airline’s rules for female cabin crew. On chat rooms and blogs, current and former flight attendants offer advice to those preparing for interviews and training. Many discuss the need to stay below a certain body mass index level and detail how their make-up palette and even hairstyles are chosen for them, while others warn that candidates — who are advised to be “humble” and “elegant” — may be rejected for having a mole on their face. Singapore Airlines is not the only flag carrier to hire attractive women, of course. But many in the city-state were shocked last month to learn that, up until this year, Singapore Girls were fired when they became pregnant. In October, the airline announced that it had dropped a policy that required female cabin crew to leave the airline after the first trimester of pregnancy. The change means pregnant cabin crew also receive paid maternity leave for up to 16 weeks before being automatically added to the next flight roster, bringing Singapore Airlines in line with other local employers. Story has more.<br/>