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'.
The worst offender, according to ITF, is Qatar Airways - which employs over 31,000 people and is the world's tenth largest airline with a modern fleet of over 100 aircraft.
- Flight attendants must ask permission before getting married
- Female flight attendants can only be hired if they're single
- They must remain single for at least five years after starting work
- Female flight attendants must notify the airline immediately if they fall pregnant
- Pregnancy can be considered a breach of contract and can lead to firing
INNLIVE has contacted Qatar Airways for a comment but the airline is yet to respond.
However speaking last year chief executive Akbar al Baker defended the policy claiming local regulations prevented pregnant cabin crew from flying and the company did not have many ground jobs available for them.
He added: 'You know they have come there to do a job and we make sure that they are doing a job, that they give us a good return on our investment.
'We are not in the business where we can guarantee ground jobs or let people stay away ... and don't do anything for the airline.'
Last year the airline was attacked by Norway's anti-discrimination ombudsman after it told women attending a recruitment day in Oslo to wear short skirts.
Another female crew member was allegedly dismissed after management received a report that she had 'kissed a man at a Doha nightclub'.
But perhaps most shocking is an interview published last year by the Swedish newspaper Expressen in which a Qatar Airways pilot reportedly states how the CEO tries to keep female crew members from mixing with male pilots by making remarks such as: 'the pilots are my chauffeurs, they only come to you to f*** you'.
Qatar Airways is not the only Gulf-based airline which stands accused of discriminating against their female workers.
Dubai-based Emirates - one of two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates - is currently operating a policy whereby female cabin crew who become pregnant in the first three years have to leave.
In a statement made last year chief commercial officer Thierry Antinori defended his airline's policy.
He said: 'If you are hired by Emirates as a cabin crew, during the first three years we expect from you to fly.'
INNLIVE has contacted Emirates for comment. Gabriel Mocho, civil aviation secretary at the international grouping of transport unions, said: 'The treatment of workers at Qatar Airways goes further than cultural differences. 'They are the worst for women's rights among airlines.'
The policies have been compared to those used by the first big U.S. airlines in the 1960s.
Pan Am for example specified attendants must be unmarried, a minimum of 5ft 2ins, weigh no more than 130 pounds, have no children and had to retire at the age of 32.
However campaigns by the group Stewardesses for Women's Rights during the 1970s brought in new laws.
The age restriction was eliminated in 1970 and the restriction of hiring women only was lifted in 1971.
However it took until the 1980s to eliminate the no-marriage rule and weight restrictions were still being enforced in the 1990s.
Mocho added: 'You can't see that deep level of sexism anywhere now except at these airlines in the Gulf.'
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has claimed Qatar Airways is an organisation 'with a secret to hide' accusing it of subjecting its workforce to a regime of curfews, surveillance and constant fear of sacking and even arrest.
The ITF claims many of the firm's cabin staff have reached out to them for help complaining of a 'climate of fear'. They have provided the following account which they say comes from a Qatar Airways cabin crew member describing what life is like at the airline.
'The phrase that time and time again its workers reach for when talking to us is that they live in ‘a climate of fear’.
A QR cabin crew member explains: ‘All the cabin crew live in company accommodations and cannot move out.
'There are cameras in every building and security guard watching everything you do, and the only way to go in or out of your accommodation is by swiping your ID card otherwise the doors won't open, this way they can keep track of the exact times when you leave or come in.
'I believed this is very dangerous specially in case of a fire or something. There's a housing department, and they randomly have spotchecks in your apartment, if you have alcohol, cigarettes, pork products, or anything that is not allow by them you are sacked immediately.
'Also you have a curfew to be back in your accommodation every single day since the first day you arrive… this includes on your days off, meaning you can ever stay outside.
'Many people get sacked daily … for reasons you will never believe. The biggest problem is there are no workers rights in this country so there's nowhere to complain, if you don't like anything you simply get sacked and if that happens before completing 2 years with the company you have to pay a bond which many cannot afford.
'And the only way to leave the country is by the company authorizing an exit permit, so you are basically trapped, many employees who have been in trouble for stupid reasons and are suspended from flying are trapped in Doha for even months with no salary waiting for clearance by the airline, payment of your bond etc.
'Nobody knows what to expect until they arrive here they don't mention this things during the recruitment process.'
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