United Airlines will continue to allow flight attendants and other customer-facing employees to wear Palestine flag pins on their uniforms despite facing backlash from a prominent antisemitism lobby group that has described the controversial badges as “divisive.”
The Chicago-based carrier was blasted by the group ‘StopAntisemitism’ after a flight attendant was spotted wearing a Palestine flag pin on a recent flight from its O’Hare hub but United has refused to back down and is standing firm behind its uniform policy.
On Wednesday, the airline said it will continue to allow staffers, including flight attendants and gate agents, to wear flag pins that either designate a language they speak or which represent “pride in a place to which they may have a special connection.”
“StopAntisemitism is alarmed by the rising trend of US airline employees displaying Palestinian flags and keffiyehs while on duty,” slammed the group’s founder Liora Rez after photos emerged of a United flight attendant wearing the flag pin on the Newark-bound flight.
“Political stances belong off the clock. Airlines must ensure that passengers aren’t confronted with divisive symbols in what should be a neutral space,” Rez continued.
United’s stance is in stark contrast to how JetBlue and Delta Air Lines responded to allegations of antisemitism after their employees were spotted wearing Palestine flag pins.
In May, JetBlue hastily rewrote its uniform policy to prohibit staffers from wearing flag pins that didn’t represent a state, country, or territory currently served by the airline following an altercation between a Jewish passenger and a flight attendant.
Paul Faust, 54, says a return flight with JetBlue was canceled by the airline after he told a flight attendant who was wearing a ‘Free Palestine’ pin badge that he found the message upsetting.
Following the furore caused by this incident, JetBlue says it “urgently expedited” a uniform review which resulted in Palestine flag pins effectively being banned.
Last month, Delta faced criticism from the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) after it banned crew members from wearing Palestine flag pins in the face of public pressure and allegations of antisemitism.
In order not to single out a single country or territory, Delta decided that it would ban flight attendants from wearing any flag pin with the exception of the US flag.
Flight attendants, however, voiced their dismay at no longer being able to show off their language skills by wearing flag pins on their uniforms.
In a statement, United explained its current flag pin policy, saying: “Our uniform policy has long included an option for flight attendants to wear flag pins to designate specific language skills so that our customers who are more comfortable in a language other than English can know who on our crew speaks their preferred language,”
The statement continued: “We also allow flight attendants to wear flag pins that represent their pride in a place to which they may have a special connection.”
Many Israeli passengers or Israeli sympathizers wear the Israeli flag pin all the time on flights, and airlines never question their motives according to analysts. Analysts are of the opinion that people should be allowed to wear any pins they like and this should be nobody’s business
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