Qatar Airways denies flight attendants are sacked if they get married

This article is more than 12 months old

Feb 18, 2015 05:18 pm

The chief of Qatar Airways, Mr Akbar al-Baker, has furiously denied claims that its flight attendants are sacked if they get married.

Mr Baker told CNN that the claims were untrue and his company’s employment practices were “very progressive”.

Asked if staff are fired when they get married, he said: “That is not true. That is a load of bull****.”

The claims were first made by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) back in 2013, but surfaced again recently after being picked up by the Washington Post newspaper.

The ITF, an international federation of transport unions, claimed that the Doha-based airline requires female staff to “obtain prior permission from the company, in case you wish to change your marital status and get married”.

It also alleged that Qatar Airways reserved the right to dismiss workers who were pregnant, as that was viewed as a breach of contract.