Norway is indisputably one of the most progressive countries that exist, and yet, a few weeks ago, its flag carrier: Norwegian Airlines, jumped into the media for the publication of a new uniform and grooming rulebook for its cabin crews that, Not only does it seem like a return to the darkest past of the first era of commercial aviation, but it could even be illegal.

Specifically, the new dress and grooming code  for cabin crews includes instructions for the female flight attendants, that is, specifically for female staff, regarding the obligatory nature of wearing makeup and the use of cabin crew shoes with a Heel height higher than 2 centimeters.

These rules contrast radically with other Scandinavian airlines, such as SAS, for example, which do not require women flight attendants to use make-up and are diametrically opposed to the standards of US airlines, such as Delta, American Airlines and United Airlines, in which it is simply recommended to cabin crews, both female and male, to achieve a well-kept appearance.

On the other hand, some airlines, such as SAS and Virgin Atlantic, allow male cabin crew to use makeup if they wish, while Norwegian expressly forbids men to use it, except to cover acne or a similar dermatological problems.

As mentioned before,  stewardeses are required to wear heel cabin crew shoes with a minimum height of 2 cm, unless they provide a medical justification that requires them to wear flat stewardess shoes.

Although the management of Norwegian has noted that it is very common in airlines to have different uniformity and image codes for male and female staff, not a few sectors of society have shown their rejection of this new internal regulation that seems to them a social setback in the 1950s, when the profession of flight attendant, like so many others, was labeled as eminently feminine and subject to openly macho codes of conduct.