Qatar Airways relaxes grip on flight attendants as carrier grows up

Dubai

IT'S 10am in Doha and more than 200 Qatar Airways flight attendants are gathered in an airport hotel ballroom. Taking the microphone, one woman fires off a query about a policy barring cabin crew from using their mobile phones in public while in uniform, garnering murmurs of approval. Another asks why those living in company-owned housing must be in their rooms from 4am to 7am, getting a round of applause.

Fielding questions is Rossen Dimitrov, the senior vice-president who oversees the carrier's 9,500 flight attendants, 80 per cent of whom are women, from places as far-flung as Peru and India. Affable and at times even funny, he explains a recent relaxation of policies on marriage and pregnancy, and pledges to review the curfew and other concerns.