EgyptAir allows air hostesses to wear veil

Minister of Aviation Samir Imbabi made the decision at crisis talks this week with the company’s stewards who went on a brief strike on Friday for better working conditions and higher wages, according to officials in the airline.

Cabin crew demands included establishing a sector for them at the ministry, as well as addressing the shortage in staff by hiring 70 flight attendants ready to assume their duties, a ministry statement said. Also, some 172 other flight attendants will be hired soon, in addition to enabling hostesses wanting to wear the head scarf as they demanded. The meeting was attended by the president's advisor and the cabinet' secretary general

“Steps are being made to design a standard hijab to fit well with the company’s uniform,” said Rushdi Zakaria, the head of EgyptAir Company for Airlines, a subsidiary of the state-owned carrier.

The move comes days after the first hijab-wearing anchorwoman appeared on Egyptian state television since the broadcaster was launched in the early 1960s. Opponents say the moves are part of an alleged plan by President Mohammad Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood to Islamize Egypt.