South Korean flight attendants win fight to wear trousers

Female flight attendants with South Korea's Asiana Airlines won a long-running battle to overturn a skirts-only dress code after the national human rights commission ruled it discriminatory. Starting from early next month, Asiana's 3,000 female flight attendants will be allowed to wear trousers for the first time since the company came into existence 25 years ago, an airline statement said. The decision came after the national rights watchdog, responding to an appeal lodged by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, ruled the existing dress code was "gender discriminatory". Asiana has a 10-page dress code for female attendants, which covers everything from earring size to hair colour and eye make-up type. Kweon Soo-Joung, the head of Asiana's labour union, said she welcomed the company's decision, but voiced concerns that some cabin staff would still feel pressure to avoid wearing trousers. "There is a possibility that senior crew could negatively evaluate those who wear trousers in an internal performance report," Kweon told Yonhap news agency.