How El Al flight attendants are rebelling against high heels

High heels may be a traditional glamour trend, but now many are choosing their health and safety over appearance.

The recent public protest against enforced high heels hit the headlines when female flight attendants at the Israeli carrier El Al were enranged at a company change in policy regarding their footwear, the Haaretz reported.

The new directive required them to wear high heels in the plane until passengers were seated. There are plenty of physical reasons for the backlash as the research shows that the amount of high heel-related injuries has doubled in a recent ten-year span.

Hundreds signed a petition and sent letters of protest to the company's management and a Facebook campaign was organized in which they replaced their profile photos with a high-heeled shoe with a plane where the heel should be. The fury stemmed from the perception that management cared more about their employees' looks than their health and safety.

Navigating the tricky aisles of an airplane while lifting bags and equipment offers clear opportunities for tripping, even in flat shoes, and heels increase the odds substantially.

However, despite the rule, one can see only a minority of flight attendants' feet in heels as approximately half of them are still opting for comfortable flat shoes; professional, attractive shoes, but definitely not high heels.

As per one of El Al flight attendants, everyone is wearing what they want to wear. Women who want to wear heels are doing so and those who aren't are forgoing the heels without special permission and without repercussions as authorities know they can't discipline everybody for breaking their rule.

So it seems that, while El Al has steadfastly refused to publicly backtrack on their policy, they are having a hard time enforcing it.