A group of Alaska Airlines flight attendants says their new uniforms are literally making them sick.
Last month, in a letter addressed to the airline president, the leaders of the union representing around 2,800 flight attendants stated that 1 in 10 employees were complaining of hair loss, itching and other problems after wearing the new company issued uniforms.
Speaking to the King5 news of Seattle, one flight attendant said “I’ve never had a uniform like this. I broke out this week. I broke out on my back first, then on my legs.”
Quoting union sources, King5 reports that the uniform made by TwinHill may be contaminated with tributyl phosphate. The toxic solvent is a chemical used in manufacturing synthetic textile.
An airline official explains to King5 that 2 different uniforms have been provided to the flight attendants. In the meantime, members of the Alaska union are bracing for a storm of media, based on a bulletin published to their website:
Reporters may be filming our flight attendants going about their business in public areas, which is not an issue. There is also the possibility of reporters approaching flight attendants to ask questions about the TwinHill uniform.
A year ago, flight attendants of Virgin Blue complained that their brand new uniforms designed by a “Project Runway” alumni, were a “hindrance” in an emergency as “the arms cannot be lifted above shoulder height due to the ill-fitting design and in the event of a fire, being 100 per cent polyester it would be like having plastic melted on to the skin.”
